Just Like a Girl
by Dior Crystal
Summary: Due to Szayel accidentally giving Ulquiorra the wrong pills, Ulquiorra turns into a girl overnight. Oh dear God. Can he go through this whole ordeal without being discovered? GrimmUlqui, one-sided IchiUlqui and GrimmRen. Shounen-ai.
1. The Mix Up

**RATING: **M for nudity.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Bleach.

* * *

Szayel was going through a pile of documents when he heard someone knock on his door.

He ignored it. He was not in the mood to entertain anyone.

A few more knocks.

He busied himself with filing the documents. Perhaps that person would leave him alone if he ignored him or her.

More knocks.

Szayel slammed the documents on to the desk, breathing hard, his temper rising. Whoever it was out there sure was persistent.

The pink haired scientist frowned. _Who the hell can that be?_ He did not appreciate being disturbed when he was working. All of his inventions so far were perfect, and he would be damned if one of his creations turned out less than perfect due to some idiot interrupting his work. Cursing the person who dared to disturb him, he walked over to the door and twisted the doorknob open.

Once he saw who was outside his room slash laboratory, however, his expression changed. Szayel immediately wore a more soft expression and he even gave a small smile.

"Oh, hello, Ulquiorra. How nice to see you." Usually, he was rude and would stare at others as though they were something to cut up but right now he being polite and nice out of fear for his superior rather than actually liking the emerald eyed arrancar. He did not want Ulquiorra to kill him for being rude. "You are just in time." And with that said and done, Szayel retreated into his room and pulled open a cabinet, revealing numerous bottles of chemicals, liquids and pills. He looked over his shoulder at his pale superior. "Go on and sit down."

Ulquiorra stepped in wordlessly and sat down on top of a table, his gaze following the pink haired scientist the whole time, emerald eyes large and calculating.

"Will be with you in a minute." Amber eyes began running over the labels of each bottle. Since there were hundreds of bottles in there, Ulquiorra figured that this might take awhile.

The pale skinned arrancar sighed. This was something that he and every other Espada had to do every day and he found it quite troublesome. Aizen-sama was quite insistent that all of his Espadas had to take vitamins every day so that they would remain in tip top shape and always ready for battle. So he had Szayel Aporro Grantz create special vitamins for each Espada. He did not want to risk one of his Espadas falling ill when the war was upon them. Ulquiorra thought that making all of them go through this was pretty unnecessary since arrancars rarely fall ill but Aizen-sama would not hear of it. Besides, Aizen-sama's word was law and he was not going to break any one of them.

When Szayel noticed the bored look on Ulquiorra's face, he attempted to start up a conversation with his superior. Although he doubted that the ever stoic Ulquiorra would actually kill him, he would like to be on the safe side and try to keep Ulquiorra's thoughts away from sending a cero in his general direction.

"So, have you spoken to Grimmjow yet?" Szayel asked as he picked up one bottle, read the label, shook his head and pushed it back into the cabinet again.

"…"

Ulquiorra stared at his feet, kicking at them.

_Grimmjow._

That name. He knew it well. Just as well as he knew his own. It sent shivers up his spine. It gave life to his dead heart. It made him feel alive. But at the same time, he feared it.

"You don't have to tell if you don't want to," Szayel said quickly, thinking that he may have angered his superior.

"No," Ulquiorra said finally, looking up. "It's perfectly fine. To answer your question; I haven't. I… don't see the need to." Ulquiorra looked away, biting his bottom lip.

He was not sure why he was telling Szayel this. The pink haired scientist was not exactly his first choice of person that he would confide in, but then again, who else was he supposed to turn to? He did not want to bother his superiors; Stark, Barragan and Halibel, since they probably had more pressing matters to think of rather than trouble themselves over Ulquiorra's problems. Nnoitra was uncouth and more interested in women and fighting to care about his comrades. Zommari was too arrogant. Aaroniero was… disturbing. Yammy was stupid beyond belief. And Grimmjow?

Grimmjow _was_ the problem.

And there was no way he was going to talk to the Sexta Espada about it.

As pathetic as it seemed, it seemed that Szayel was the only person that he could confide in. Although he knew that Szayel was only being nice to him out of fear, the pink haired scientist was intelligent and probably knew more about him than the other Espadas. This was because whenever Ulquiorra came by for his daily vitamins, he would sometimes sit and talk to the Octava. So it was no surprise that Szayel knew about his current predicament.

"It's not important anyways," Ulquiorra added. "It's nothing."

"What?" Szayel threw a sharp look at Schiffer. "Ulquiorra, this is _not _nothing. You should know how important this is. For arrancars to have dreams about another arrancar, it could mean-"

"I know what it means," Ulquiorra interrupted. He did not want to be reminded about how important those dreams were. "Grimmjow does not need to know that I have been having dreams of him."

"But-"

"Enough."

All it took was one word to slip past Ulquiorra's lips and Szayel became quiet, instantly understanding that Ulquiorra was serious and that if he did not keep quiet on the matter, the Cuarto Espada might just cero him and bring an end to his life.

Ulquiorra knew that Szayel was just trying to help, but he really did not want to think about it. Although he was fearless in battle and would not hesitate to cut down an enemy and ending their life, the thought of confronting the Sexta was quite frightening. Especially on such an important issue. At first the dreams would come once in awhile, but now, they came every night. The dreams were not really dreams, but more like seeing the image of a person. So every night he would see Grimmjow's image in his mind's eye. He would then wake up from his slumber, breathing hard and panicking.

He knew that it was crucial for him to talk to the Sexta about it, but he could not bring himself to do it. If just dreaming about Grimmjow was affecting him this much, he could not bear to think about what would happen if he actually confronted Grimmjow. Or the words that would come out of Grimmjow's mouth. The Sexta would have just laughed at him mockingly and called him an idiot. No. Ulquiorra not bear the thought.

"I'm sorry," Szayel said.

Ulquiorra shook his head. "It's alright. I-"

Just then, a knock came at the door.

"Coming!" Szayel called out, making towards the door.

The emerald eyed Espada looked at ground, lost in his thoughts. He did not even bother to look up to greet the visitor. It was probably one of Szayel's freaky fraccions, arriving with some new specimens in hand for Aporro Grantz to dissect. Most of the residents of Las Noches stayed away from the Octava, particularly the lower arrancars, for fear of being next in line of becoming the pink haired scientist's new guinea pig or specimen to dissect. It was only the Espadas that were ranked above the Octava that dared to make contact with Szayel.

"Hello," Szayel said. "How are you, Grimmjow?"

That name alone was enough to pull Ulquiorra out of his thoughts and make him stiffen. He had completely forgotten that the Sexta usually came by at this time. If he had remembered, he would have come to Szayel's a little later. The pale skinned arrancar's emerald eyes widened and he slowly lifted his head up, only to be met with sapphire eyes. Grimmjow was looking at him. Ulquiorra felt like he had stopped breathing altogether, panic now rising up his throat. He gripped the edges of the table that he was sitting on tightly.

Grimmjow and Ulquiorra looked at each other intently, both never moving, never breaking the eye contact. The silence that hung in the air was so thick, Ulquiorra felt like he could suffocate in it.

Szayel looked at Grimmjow, then at Ulquiorra, then back again, wondering whether he should break the silence.

But he did not need to worry about that seeing that Grimmjow had decided to do it for him. "Ulquiorra," Grimmjow said. He took a step towards the Cuarto Espada, lifting his hand up as though to reach out for the slender arrancar.

Hearing his name come out of Grimmjow's mouth was enough for Ulquiorra's brain to start functioning once more. The emerald eyed arrancar blinked a few times, and then finally closed his eyes and looked away from Grimmjow, signaling that he did not want to have anything to do with the Sexta at the moment. "Trash," he muttered. The moment the words slipped past his lips, Ulquiorra immediately regretted it. He knew that this was his way of pushing the Sexta away. It came out, like a reflex. He wished that he could take them back now, but it was too late.

Hurt flashed through sapphire eyes. Grimmjow looked like he wanted to say more, but seeing the negative reaction that he had gotten from Ulquiorra, he pulled his hand back and bit his bottom lip. The teal haired arrancar took one final look at Ulquiorra, who still had his head turned away defiantly, and turned back to face the Octava.

"I'm here for my daily drug," Grimmjow grinned, showing his canines (or rather, felines?), his demeanor immediately changing, acting as though nothing had transpired between himself and the Cuarto.

Hearing the Sexta joke made Ulquiorra's heart tighten. How could the Sexta be able to act like this when Ulquiorra was suffering? Dealing with his inner turmoil? _Well,_ he reasoned with himself, _it's not like Grimmjow knows what I'm going through, after all_.

Amber eyes narrowed. "They are not drugs," Szayel retorted, irritated.

"Then what do you call them then? Crack?"

"They are called _vitamins_, Grimmjow," Szayel gritted out, not wanting to lose his temper and start a fight with the Sexta. That was a battle that he would never be able to win. He grabbed a bottle that had Grimmjow's name on it, dropped a few pills onto the palm of his hand and pressed them into Grimmjow's hands. "Here. You know what to do. Drink these with a glass of water."

"Yeah yeah. I'm not stupid." Grimmjow waved a hand at Szayel dismissively and turned on his heel to walk out of the Octava's room. "See ya later, Grantz." Before he walked out of the door, he gazed at Ulquiorra's back for a second or two, looking like he wanted to say something to the Cuarto but seemed to have thought better of it and left.

As soon as the teal haired arrancar was gone, Szayel shut the door and turned to look at Ulquiorra, who still had his head turned away.

"Ulquiorra." Szayel paused. "Why didn't you talk to him just now?"

"…"

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, trying to still his breathing and fast beating heart. "Like I have said," Ulquiorra said, straightening up. "It is not important."

"But he looked like he wanted to talk to you."

"He didn't." The pale arrancar got off the table he was sitting on. "He probably just wanted to fight with me. It is his nature, after all, to fight." He walked towards the pink haired scientist. "I see that you have located it. My vitamins now, if you please, Szayel." He nodded at a bottle that Szayel held in his hand. "It is important that I get this done as quickly as possible. I have some duties to attend to," Ulquiorra lied. He just did not want to talk about this whole matter anymore. And it was quite likely that if his comrade continued probing him, it would only end with Szayel's death, and Ulquiorra did not want to answer to Aizen-sama when his top scientist turned up dead.

Sensing Ulquiorra's reluctance to discuss the matter any further, Szayel merely nodded and dropped the pills into Ulquiorra's waiting hand.

"Thank you." And with that, Ulquiorra left.

* * *

Ulquiorra walked down the hallway, making his way to his room. His room was only four doors away from the Octava's. He walked past Zommari's room and stopped for a moment when he came to the white door that had a black gothic number six written on it; it was Grimmjow's room.

Ulquiorra stood outside of the Sexta's room, gazing at the white door, his hands shoved in his pockets, contemplating what he should do. Grimmjow was definitely in there. Ulquiorra could sense Grimmjow's reiatsu coming from inside the room. And from the way Jeagerjaques' reiatsu was behaving erratically, it seemed that the Sexta was having some sort of conflict. Not with someone else since Ulquiorra could not sense any other reiatsu coming from that room. Rather, it seemed that Grimmjow was perhaps having some sort of inner conflict?

The emerald eyed arrancar pulled a hand out of the confines of one of this pockets and reached out to rest his hand on the cool metal of the doorknob. Should he confront Grimmjow just like Szayel had suggested? Perhaps it would be better to just put an end to the stupid doubts and fears in his mind right here, right now. Then he would not have to think about this anymore. Or go through sleepless nights just because he did not want to see the image of a certain someone.

Ulquiorra was about to twist the doorknob open when he felt Grimmjow's reiatsu suddenly became stable and started approaching towards the door until it finally stopped behind the door. Ulquiorra's eyes widened. The Sexta must have felt his presence. Withdrawing his white hand from the doorknob, Ulquiorra turned on his heel and quickly walked away before Grimmjow could open the door and find out that Ulquiorra had been lingering outside his door just moments ago, eager to return to his own room.

Once Ulquiorra was in the confines of his room, he shut the door behind him and leant against the door, slowly sliding down to the floor, his back still against the door, breathing heavily.

That was close.

He nearly got caught by Grimmjow.

He was not ready. The confrontation had to wait for another time.

Letting out a shuddering breath, Ulquiorra slowly got up and made his way to the dressing table and gazed at his reflection in the mirror that hung above the dressing table. That all too familiar pale, doll-like face stared back at him. His slightly messy raven hair nearly reached his shoulders. Large emerald eyes were looking back at him with a look of exhaustion in them.

What on Hueco Mundo was happening to him?

He was a strong and proud Espada. Since when did he start running away from someone? Especially from someone who was lower ranked than him? He was usually able to face his problems and solve them with ease, but when it came to the Sexta, Ulquiorra could not do anything. That was the effect that Grimmjow had on Ulquiorra.

He had not always been this way when it came to the Sexta. At the beginning, all he felt towards Grimmjow Jeagerjaques was indifference. He did not bother with the Sexta, the Sexta did not bother with him. However, there were times that Grimmjow disagreed with him but Ulquiorra simply ignored him, further infuriating Grimmjow. From there, when Grimmjow began challenging Ulquiorra on nearly every matter that Ulquiorra began to view the Sexta with distaste and contempt. But all of that ended when Ulquiorra began having dreams of Grimmjow.

The moment he started having the dreams about the Sexta a few months ago, Ulquiorra was mortified beyond belief. He was not able to look Grimmjow in the eye after that. Whenever he did, Ulquiorra would immediately move as far away from the Sexta as possible or if he was not able to move away, he would avert his gaze from the Sexta's. If Grimmjow had noticed this change of behaviour in Ulquiorra, he did not make any comment on it. Well, he did, at first. He would grumpily ask why Ulquiorra was acting so weird and that it was pissing him off.

_Emerald eyes averted their gaze from sapphire ones._

_Grimmjow grabbed Ulquiorra's arm, fire blazing in his sapphire eyes. He was furious. "Teme. Why the fuck are you being so weird nowadays? It's pissing me the hell off. Will you fucking cut it out?" He squeezed the Cuarto's arm painfully intending to hurt Ulquiorra._

_Ulquiorra merely looked at the hand that was gripping his arm and said coolly, seemingly unaffected, not once meeting Grimmjow's gaze, "Let go of me, Sexta."_

But after awhile, those comments died and Grimmjow himself began to become more silent around Ulquiorra.

Perhaps he knew that trying to get a word out of Ulquiorra would be fruitless?

Or perhaps… Perhaps…

Ulquiorra shook his head.

No.

He would not entertain that thought. It was not possible, anyways.

Ulquiorra gazed at his reflection and raised his hand to touch his cheek lightly with his fingertips.

_These tear tracks._

At first, they were nothing more than birth marks to him. Something that he was born with. If a person was to take one glance at him with these marks, they would immediately assume that he was a weak and rather sensitive individual when he was actually cold, strong and stoic. In spite of how fragile and delicate Ulquiorra looked, he was the exact opposite of what people thought of him at first glance. But, if they looked at him now, Ulquiorra would have said that their assumptions were correct. Because somewhere along the way, Ulquiorra had become this. This weak being.

And he hated it.

This was not him. Ulquiorra glared at his reflection. He was the strong, proud Cuarto Espada. And no one, especially not the Sexta Espada, could bring him down.

With that thought, Ulquiorra downed the pills and drank a glass of water. He was tired and he needed rest. Tomorrow, tomorrow he was going to confront Grimmjow Jeagerjaques for sure.

* * *

Szayel was rearranging the bottles in the cabinet once he had given the vitamins to all of his fellow Espadas. The last one being Stark. No surprise there since all the man did was sleep. He was the laziest person that Szayel had ever come across; how Stark was the Primera Espada was a mystery to him. He had probably forgotten to come and only came when Lilinette kicked him awake and reminded him at the very last minute.

The pink haired scientist rubbed at his amber eyes tiredly. Really. This ridiculous job was going to be the death of him. Keeping track of all of his fellow Espadas' vitamin intake was not fun. And trying to get them to take the stupid pills was even worse.

Then he caught sight of the bottle of pills that he had given Ulquiorra. He picked it up, his eyes heavy with sleep but immediately snapped awake when he read the label.

Oh. My. Fucking. God.

Szayel's hold on the bottle loosened and it slipped out of his fingers, falling to the floor.

He had given Ulquiorra the wrong pills.

He was so dead.

* * *

Ulquiorra woke up the next day feeling extremely groggy. The emerald eyed arrancar rubbed at his eyes tiredly, slipping out of the covers of his bed and making his way to the dressing table. He remembered absently that he had promised himself that today he was going to confront Grimmjow. If he was going to do that, he might as well be well dressed and presentable. Ulquiorra stood in front of the dressing table and felt around for the hairbrush, his eyes still heavy with sleep.

Finally locating it, Ulquiorra grabbed it and ran it through his raven locks. Once he had made sure that his hair was free from tangles, he unbuttoned his top and discarded it to the floor. He needed to shower. As if on cue, his eyes began to focus and he found himself staring at his reflection openmouthed, eyes wide in a mixture of shock and horror.

It was at that very moment that Ulquiorra learned that he had somehow sprouted tits overnight. The whole of Hueco Mundo must have heard the scream that emitted from Ulquiorra Schiffer's room.


	2. Discussions

Ulquiorra stared down at his two newly formed boobs and poked at the left one. It was… soft. He poked at it again. It wobbled.

Oh my God.

He must be dreaming. There is no fucking way that this could be real. There is NO WAY that this could be happening. Ulquiorra gulped, and he slowly lifted his gaze from his breasts to look into the mirror. And to his horror, he saw someone else staring back at him. It was his reflection, but it was not him. But at the same time, it _was_ him.

Ulquiorra reached out and touched the mirror. The person in the mirror reached out as well. Ulquiorra gulped. His reflection, no, he _refused_ to believe that it was his reflection. The person in the mirror was like a mirror image of him. Except for a few differences. The person in the mirror had large emerald eyes like him but the eyelashes were longer. More noticeable. The face was more delicate and doll-like. The hair was exactly the same. The body was petite and obviously very female. The waist was tiny and the breasts were modest and perky. Ulquiorra turned around and looked back at the mirror over his shoulder, his eyes widening. It seemed that that person had a cute butt as well.

Almost fearfully, Ulquiorra squeezed his eyes shut and slowly pulled his pants open. When he opened his eyes, what he saw, or rather what he did _not_ see nearly gave him a heart attack.

**OMFG.**

His little buddy was gone! Little Ulquiorra was gone! ULQUI-CHAN WAS GONE!!!

Where did it go??

Ulquiorra screamed.

Szayel must have heard Ulquiorra's screams because he suddenly came bursting into Ulquiorra's room without knocking. "Ulquiorra, I'm so sorry, please don't kill me but… _HOLY SHIT………………!!!!_"

At Szayel's sudden entrance, Ulquiorra had turned around, completely forgetting about covering up so Szayel got a full view of Ulquiorra's newly formed breasts, making the pink haired scientist shout in surprise and cover his eyes with his arm. Upon realizing that he had accidentally exposed himself to the Octava, Ulquiorra crossed his arms across his chest and screamed even harder.

What was happening to him? Ulquiorra could not understand. This must be a dream. A horrible, horrible dream. His world was spinning, spinning… There was no way that all of this could be real. This must be a nightmare. He must still be asleep. He…

Ulquiorra was hyperventilating and would have probably passed out on the floor at that very moment if Szayel had not reached out and slapped him right across the face.

Ulquiorra blinked, immediately coming to his senses. He touched his cheek. It did not hurt due to his thick hierro but it did shock him out of his hysterics. "Thank you," he said finally when he had calmed himself down. He may have looked calm, but he felt sick and badly wanted to puke.

"You're welcome." Szayel was breathing hard. Then, a pink blush appeared on his cheeks. "Urmmm." He shifted uncomfortably. "I think that you should wear something."

"Oh." Ulquiorra immediately turned crimson when he realized that he was not wearing a top. With Szayel having his back turned on Ulquiorra to give his superior some privacy, Ulquiorra pulled a top on. Once that was done, Ulquiorra sank to the ground, feeling helpless. He looked up at Szayel. "What is happening to me?" he said softly.

Szayel rubbed the side of his head, hoping against hope that his superior would not kill him after what he was going to reveal to the pale arrancar. "Well…" he began sheepishly.

* * *

"Ulquiorra-chan is late," Ichimaru observed.

Aizen placed his chin on the palm of his hand. He regarded all of the Espadas that were present with detached interest. He lifted an eyebrow. Ichimaru was right. His most obedient and loyal Espada was not present. This was highly unusual since Ulquiorra Schiffer was never late. If anything, he was either always on time or early. "And so he is," Aizen mused. He flicked his gaze over at Yammy. "Yammy, would you be as kind as to call Ulquiorra here? He may have forgotten about the meeting."

"Yes, Aizen-sama." Yammy stood up and bowed.

Yammy was about to turn and leave when Aizen spoke up once more. "Oh, and Yammy?"

"Aizen-sama?"

"Please check on who is making those screams and make sure he or she keeps quiet. I don't want any interruptions during the meeting. I have a very important announcement to make today."

"Yes, Aizen-sama." Yammy bowed once more.

Grimmjow watched as Yammy walked out of the meeting hall. For once he was actually on time for one of Aizen's meetings. He frowned.

Where was Ulquiorra?

Ulquiorra was hardly ever late for anything. The man was punctual and had a fixed and predictable routine. The only reason that Ulquiorra would be late for Aizen's meeting was if Ulquiorra was in trouble. Grimmjow's expression turned sour at the thought. What was so special about Aizen? Grimmjow did not like the thought of Ulquiorra being so loyal and dedicated to someone. But then Grimmjow's expression then turned to one of worry.

_Ulquiorra would only miss Aizen's meeting if he was in trouble_…

Grimmjow's heart clenched and he felt like he had stopped breathing.

_Ulquiorra… Was he in trouble?_

The teal haired arrancar shook his head. No. He should stop thinking about his superior so much. Besides, Ulquiorra was more than capable of taking care of himself. Grimmjow lowered his sapphire eyes to the table. It was not like the emerald eyed arrancar ever cared or even thought about him anyways. Normally, Grimmjow would not have given a shit about what others thought of him. He had always been a lone ranger. But this was Ulquiorra. And he just could not simply dismiss his raven haired superior. Especially since he had begun having dreams about the emerald eyed arrancar.

Grimmjow bit his bottom lip.

Yeah. That was right. He had begun having dreams about Ulquiorra Schiffer. And no, he was not talking about wet dreams, you pervs. In fact, he would have preferred having wet dreams about Ulquiorra Schiffer because at least then, then he would not have to confront Ulquiorra. He could have kept the dreams to himself. But the dreams he had been having about Ulquiorra were different. He would only see Ulquiorra Schiffer's image in his mind's eye. The more he ignored it, the more frequently they came. At first, the dreams only came once in awhile, but after some time, he began having the dreams every single time he was asleep. And soon, the only thing that occupied Grimmjow's mind was Ulquiorra Schiffer, and Ulquiorra Schiffer only.

Again, he would have greatly preferred having wet dreams about Ulquiorra Schiffer than the dreams that he had been having about the pale arrancar. Because, at least, at the very least, there would not be a need for him to confront Ulquiorra because the both of them, him and Grimmjow, may just be soul mates.

Yeah. You read that right.

There was a possibility that he, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques and his superior, Ulquiorra Schiffer, were soul mates.

Grimmjow leaned back against his chair and tried to calm himself down.

Dreams may not be significant to others, but to arrancars, they held a lot of significance. This was because if two arrancars had dreams of each other (not just normal dreams, but actually picturing the image of the other arrancar in their mind's eye), it meant that they were meant to be. Soul mates. However, there was a possibility that only one arrancar could be having a dream of another arrancar but the other arrancar did not. So, there was a 50 percent possibility that Ulquiorra Schiffer was his soul mate. The dreams would not go away unless the arrancars confront each other.

Grimmjow had tried numerous times to try speaking to the stoic arrancar, but it seemed that Ulquiorra did not want anything to do with the teal haired arrancar, making Grimmjow feel discouraged. Every time he came near Ulquiorra, Ulquiorra would turn his face away from him. If Grimmjow tried to talk to Ulquiorra, Ulquiorra would call him "trash" and leave it at that. Grimmjow had even tried cornering the pale arrancar but Ulquiorra always found a way to escape. Ulquiorra was not the Cuatro Espada for nothing.

And the fact that they were not on good terms in the first place probably did not help matters.

If only they did not hate each other.

No, if only Ulquiorra did not hate him in the first place. Otherwise, this whole matter would not have been so difficult. Everything would have been so much easier. Grimmjow had never hated Ulquiorra. In fact, from the first time he had known his pale superior, he had been trying to catch Ulquiorra's attention. But all of his attempts seemed fruitless. The only way so far that he had been able to get Ulquiorra's attention was by trying to strike a nerve in the pale arrancar. It was entertaining to see that doll-like face twist in anger or annoyance. Ulquiorra looked… adorable. The only problem with his method of trying to get Ulquiorra's attention was that it had made Ulquiorra hate him.

And when those dreams began, Grimmjow was mortified. For once, he was afraid to approach the emerald eyed arrancar. He was not afraid that Ulquiorra might just cero him for approaching him, but he was afraid of the rejection.

"Oi, Sexta." Nnoitra was grinning.

Grimmjow glared at the Quinta Espada, immediately pulled out of his thoughts. "What, Nnoitra?" he gritted out.

"Who do you suppose was the one screaming just now?"

"How the hell would I know?" Grimmjow responded rudely. He hated the Quinta Espada. The lanky arrancar had tried on more than one occasion to kill him.

Nnoitra leaned forward then. There was a lecherous look on his face. Grimmjow felt like punching that stupid face but knew that Nnoitra was more powerful than him so he kept his temper in check. Grimmjow may have hated Nnoitra, but he was not stupid either. Nnoitra licked his lips. "Those screams were coming from Ulquiorra's bedroom," Nnoitra stated plainly.

"…"

"And those screams sounded very… _feminine_."

Grimmjow tried keeping his cool and said calmly. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

Nnoitra's grin, if possible, widened even further. "It means that Ulquiorra has a girl in his bedroom." He looked smug. "He must have been fucking her pretty roughly to make her scream like that."

"Shut the fuck up, Nnoitra!" Grimmjow growled, losing his patience.

However, this little outburst of the Sexta Espada's only made Nnoitra laugh. "You are so obvious, Sexta. I almost feel sorry for you. Almost." He leaned back in his chair, that infuriating grin still on his face. "Unrequited love is painful, isn't it, Sexta?" He was sneering now.

Grimmjow stiffened. Was he that obvious?

Clenching his fist, the Sexta Espada willed himself to calm down. It would not do to lose his temper with the Quinta. It would only end with his own death.

The teal haired arrancar was getting worried now.

Where on Earth was Ulquiorra? And what was he doing?

* * *

Ulquiorra had never felt like strangling a person before. But now, he did. He badly wanted to strangle Szayel. How on Earth could the pink haired scientist who claimed that he was perfect and that all of his creations were perfect as well, hence he never made any mistakes, make such a HORRENDOUS MISTAKE? Of all things Szayel could have accidentally mixed his pills up with, he had to mix them up with pills that could turn him into a _girl_???!

This was abominable! This was unacceptable! This was, this was…

"You are dead, Octava," Ulquiorra hissed, wrapping his slim fingers around Szayel's neck.

"I'm sorry, Ulquiorra! Really, I am! I-" Szayel held his hands up, trying to calm the furious Ulquiorra down.

Ulquiorra was about to jump up and tackle Szayel to the ground and aim a cero to his head to end the Octava's life when someone knocked on the door.

"OI! Ulquiorra-sama! Are you in there? Aizen-sama requests your presence for the meeting. Come on out right now!" came Yammy's voice.

At hearing Yammy's voice, Ulquiorra immediately loosened his grip on Szayel's neck. Gasping for air, Szayel moved as far away as possible from his pale superior. For once in his life, he was relieved that that clumsy idiot of an Espada, Yammy, had come. Szayel scrambled for the door for quickly, it took Ulquiorra a second or two to realize what the Octava was doing.

"Come back here!" Ulquiorra said but when Szayel opened the door, he fell silent.

"Oh, hello, Yammy!" Szayel rushed out of the room and closed the door shut. He knew that Ulquiorra would not follow him. The Cuatro Espada was far too embarrassed to let anyone else see him. Besides, Ulquiorra needed some time to cool down and think. "Ulquiorra is not available at the moment," Szayel breathed, pressing his back against the Cuatro's white door.

Yammy raised an eyebrow. He leaned down so that he was eye to eye with the pink haired Espada. "I may not be as smart as you, Grantz, but I am not stupid. You were inside his room just now. There is no way you could be in there without him letting you in. So get out of the way so that I can get Ulquiorra-sama." He attempted to push Szayel aside so that he could twist the door knob open.

"No!" Szayel shrieked, panicked. He pressed his back against the door harder, completely denying Yammy entrance. Maybe Ulquiorra would be less likely to kill him if he saved his pale superior. "You… you can't go in!"

Yammy drew back, a displeased look on his face. "Oh? And why not?"

"Because… Because…" Szayel wracked his brains. Come on, come on, brain, think of something! _You have never failed me before this, so don't fail me now!_ "Oh, umm… Because Ulquiorra is sick now!" Szayel invented.

"Really?" Yammy knitted his orange eyebrows together.

"Yes!" Szayel said quickly. "And, and… I need to see Aizen-sama concerning Ulquiorra's health. It is quite urgent!"

"Ulquiorra-sama is sick? Okay. I'll let you report to him, then."

Szayel sighed in relief. He thanked God that Yammy was stupid.

There was a moment of silence until Yammy finally spoke up once more;

"But since he is sick, can I see him, please?"

Amber eyes widened. Damn! He had completely forgotten about Yammy's admiration and loyalty towards the Cuatro Espada. "No!" he shouted. At the surprised look on Yammy's face, Szayel said in a much lower voice, "Ulquiorra is very contagious at the moment. It is not advisable for you to see him. He is only allowing me and Aizen in."

"Oh." Yammy looked crestfallen. "Okay then. Let's go see Aizen-sama now."

* * *

Grimmjow was surprised to see that instead of seeing Yammy walking into the meeting hall with Ulquiorra Schiffer in tow, he saw Yammy walking in with Szayel Aporro Grantz, the creepiest Espada of all Hueco Mundo. He had never paid the pink haired Espada any mind but he paid close attention when Szayel went up to Aizen and heard Ulquiorra's name pass Szayel's lips.

"Aizen-sama." Szayel bowed before Aizen. "I need you to come immediately to the Cuatro Espada's room. Ulquiorra Schiffer is not… feeling himself."

The teal haired arrancar felt like he had stopped breathing altogether. An Espada requesting Aizen's presence was unheard of. What on Earth had happened to Ulquiorra that it was so urgent that he had to ask Aizen for help?

He saw that Aizen looked intrigued and then the brown haired man nodded. "I see. Let's go, Gin." He got up and walked out of the meeting hall.

"Oh!" said Ichimaru excitedly, trailing behind Sousuke Aizen. "Looks like we are finally going to have some fun around here!"

_What is going on?  
_

Grimmjow had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

Ulquiorra sat back down on his bed and sighed. His anger towards Szayel was slowly disappearing. He knew that it did not do to get angry with the pink haired Espada. After all, it was an accident, no matter how infuriating it was. And also, if he had killed Szayel, that would mean he would have to say good bye to his chances of returning back to normal again. Szayel was the smartest arrancar in the whole of Hueco Mundo. And he was also the one that had created the damned pills. So it would only be common sense that Szayel would be the only one who would be able to create a pill that could turn him back to normal.

The emerald eyed arrancar buried his face in his small white hands.

Why was this happening to him?

Of all times for this to happen. And he was just about to confront Grimmjow… He bit his bottom lip, tears beginning to form in his emerald orbs.

What if he was going to be stuck this way forever? Stuck in this confounded female body?

He just could not bear the thought. He did not want to be a girl. He did not, he did not…

"I've never seen you so down before, Ulquiorra," came his superior, Aizen-sama's all too familiar voice.

"Aizen-sama!" Ulquiorra gasped, lifting his head up from his hands and standing up, gazing at his superior with wide eyes. He had not expected to see his superior here. But he supposed that it was common sense to have Aizen-sama come here. Szayel must have called him. Trust Szayel to be smart enough to come up with that.

When Aizen saw what had happened to his most obedient Espada, he was shocked. He lifted his brown eyebrows and nearly took a step back. Ulquiorra had turned into a… _girl_? He knew that Szayel had said that Ulquiorra was not feeling himself, but Aizen certainly did not expect _this_. "Ulquiorra…?" he said, hardly able to believe what he was seeing. "You are a girl?"

"What what? I want to see!" Ichimaru's face popped up over Aizen's shoulder, his trademark grin forever present. Upon seeing Ulquiorra's condition, Ichimaru did not look surprised at all. In fact, the grin on his face widened. "Eh? I don't see any difference at all, Ulquiorra-chan!"

Ulquiorra wanted Ichimaru to spontaneously combust at the spot.

Seeing the anger burning in emerald eyes, Szayel stepped in. "Aizen-sama! What should we do about Ulquiorra's condition?"

It took a moment or two for what Szayel had said to finally sink into Aizen's mind. When it did, the brown haired ex-shinigami blinked once, twice, and then a third time.

"Well?" Szayel pressed.

Ulquiorra looked up at Aizen helplessly. He hoped that Aizen could think of some way to solve this problem quickly. Once the initial shock of seeing Ulquiorra's appearance had subsided, Aizen cleared his throat.

"Well, Ulquiorra…" said Aizen, his usual calm composure back. "Due to your… _unusual_ condition, I would say that it is best to keep this a secret until we can find a way to get you back to normal." He raised an eyebrow at the emerald eyed arrancar. "Unless you don't mind having people know about your condition?"

At the horrified look on Ulquiorra's face, Aizen said briskly, "I thought so." He smiled. Damn, it was hard to keep a straight face. It was extremely disturbing to see that Ulquiorra made an extremely attractive female. "So we shall keep this a secret. The only people who will know about this are the people in this room" He gestured at Ichimaru and Szayel. The former shinigami gave a particularly hard look at Ichimaru. "Do we have an understanding?"

"Aww…" Ichimaru looked disappointed. "You are no fun…" At the look on Aizen's face, Ichimaru said hastily, "Yes, yes. I understand."

"Oh, thank you, Aizen-sama!" Ulquiorra was relieved. He did not want it to go around that he had miraculously sprouted breasts overnight. Not only would he have been ridiculed, Nnoitra, the horniest arrancar in the whole of Hueco Mundo, would have groped at him like there was no tomorrow.

"However, I want you to carry on with your duties as usual."

What? Did Ulquiorra just hear that right?

"Excuse me, Aizen-sama?" Ulquiorra spluttered.

Looking as calm as ever, Aizen said, "As I have said before, you are to carry on with your duties as usual. You can't expect me to let you stay in this room until you turn back to normal? It could take months for Szayel here to come up with a cure for your condition."

Well, Ulquiorra hated to say it, but Aizen was right. He could not stay in this room forever.

When Ulquiorra continued looking at his superior with a stupefied expression on his pale face, Szayel interjected, as though reading exactly what was on his mind; "How is he supposed to keep this a secret if he continues to carry on with his duties as usual?"

"I will introduce you to the rest of the Espada as the newest Cuatro Espada. And that the former Cuatro Espada, Ulquiorra Schiffer, is currently away at the moment. I will tell them that you are to act as Ulquiorra's substitute until he returns," Aizen said after a moment's thought. He smiled gently. "You-" he pointed at Ulquiorra "- have to think up of a new name. That new name will be your new identity."

At first, Ulquiorra wanted to protest. There was no way that he could fool the rest of the Espada into thinking that he was NOT Ulquiorra Schiffer, but then again, who would have thought that Ulquiorra had turned into a female? No one. They would have just thought that he was a female that looked like Ulquiorra Schiffer. They would have just thought that it was a mere coincidence. It was, after all, possible for two people of different genders to look alike, right? The plan was so simple, yet so ingenious. There was no way anyone would have suspected him to really be Ulquiorra.

"Well? What will your female name be, Ulquiorra?" the brown haired shinigami said, bringing the emerald eyed Espada out of his thoughts.

Ulquiorra placed a finger to his chin and thought. Finally, he said, "Kiorra."

Ichimaru made a face. "That name sucks. Can't you think of something more creative?"

The slender arrancar glowered at him.

The brown haired ex-shinigami waved a hand dismissively at Ichimaru Gin. "It will have to do. I think I can come up with a suitable story to go with your name, Ulquiorra." He paused. "I will have Szayel work on a cure for you immediately." Aizen turned his back on his emerald eyed subordinate. "I will let you get ready. Once you are ready, Ulquiorra, come to the Meeting Hall immediately."

"I will. Thank you, Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra bowed. He may have just had a complete gender change but he still remembered how to behave in front of his superior.

"I still say that that name sucks," Ichimaru muttered under his breath. "Can't you think of something better, Ulqui-chan?"

Ulquiorra coloured when he heard Ichimaru say the word "Ulqui-chan". He had thought that the silver haired former shinigami was referring to something else (ahem ahem) but then he realized that Ichimaru was referring to him.

"I'm back…!" Szayel announced. Apparently, the pink haired scientist had disappeared from the room during Ulquiorra's discussion with Aizen and had gone to his laboratory to pick up some things. His arms were laden with items that looked suspiciously like… Frankly, Ulquiorra did not want to know. He had a bad feeling that those items had something to do with his condition.

Oh, how right he was.

"Here you go!" Szayel shoved the items into Ulquiorra's arms. "You will be needing these!"

The bad feeling that Ulquiorra had was only elevated when the grin on Ichimaru's face widened.

Ulquiorra looked at the items in his arms. He knew what some of them were. There were a few panties (and thongs. This made Ulquiorra colour) and some feminine wash. He picked up one item that looked foreign to him and held it in front of his face. It seemed to be some sort of article of clothing made to look like two bowls joined together with some straps on it. He examined it with his fingers. They were padded. He did not know what this thing was, but it looked safe enough. The only other thing that he saw that resembled anything like this in the human world was… "Earmuffs?" Ulquiorra said. "Why would I need earmuffs for?"

Szayel looked at Ulquiorra incredulously. "You don't _know_?" he said in disbelief.

Ichimaru sniggered.

At the blank look on Ulquiorra's face, Szayel said, "That's a brassiere. A bra, for short."

Another blank stare.

Turning pink, Szayel said as calmly as he could without stuttering, "It's for…" He pointed at Ulquiorra's newly formed boobies. "Holding those two up."

He should have known that thinking this thing had nothing to do with his condition was merely wishful thinking.

"Oh." Then Ulquiorra held another item up, and asked another question, almost dreading the answer, "And what's this for?" It was square and wrapped in plastic.

Szayel looked at Ulquiorra strangely. "That's a pad. For when you have your menstruation."

A blink.

"Excuse me?"

"It's for when you have your period," Szayel repeated, making Ulquiorra want to die at that very spot.

* * *

After Szayel had explained to a very traumatized Ulquiorra what menstruation was, Ulquiorra found himself in the bathroom. He had decided to get ready for the meeting. Szayel was outside waiting for him, along with Ichimaru. Aizen had ordered them to accompany him to the Meeting Hall for his "entrance". Ulquiorra groaned inwardly, suddenly feeling sick. He had no idea that females went through all of this shit for the sake of reproduction. This was ridiculous. And he definitely did not feel like going to the meeting.

Once he had taken his top off, Ulquiorra examined himself in the mirror.

_No matter how many times you look in the mirror, you will see the same thing._

Ulquiorra sighed.

Perhaps somewhere inside him he was still hoping that all of this was all a bad dream. However, he knew in the back of his mind that that this was real and that there was no way he would turn back to normal without Szayel coming up with a cure.

The emerald eyed Espada looked over at the bra lying by the sink. He supposed that he would have to start practicing to learn how to wear that damned contraption. Szayel had explained to him very clearly how to put the thing on. He picked it up. How hard could it be?

When he passed by the bathroom mirror, Ulquiorra noticed something that made him stop and stare in horror for the second time that day.

Oh God, no. Oh God, please let this not be real.

Because right there at the back of his pants was a huge red stain. By the looks of it and from what the Octava had explained to him on the subject, it could only mean one thing; Ulquiorra had gotten his first period.

* * *

**A/N: Due to assignments and finals coming up in July, updates may be slower than usual. Sorry. And oh yeah, I have signed up as a Beta Reader. I'm obviously the worst person to be a Beta Reader. X) I hope you like this chapter. I've tried to write it the best I can. Reviews are appreciated.**

**PS: Don't take this fic too literally. It is called _Just Like A Girl_ for a reason. So Ulquiorra will experience everything a girl has to go through. Warts and all. And it's a fanfiction. So, yeah. It means that I can write whatever I want.  
**


	3. Meeting

Szayel paced outside the bathroom as Ulquiorra was getting himself ready. He sighed, running his hand through his pink hair. Ulquiorra really was taking a long time. He knew that his superior had just gotten his period, but still. He had already explained to him how to put the pad on. Surely it could not take this long? While Szayel was worrying, the grin on Ichimaru's face never slipped. He really was enjoying himself.

"Ulquiorra," Szayel said loudly so that Ulquiorra could hear, "Aizen-sama is waiting for us so could you please-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'M GETTING READY AS FAST AS I CAN, OKAY??!" Ulquiorra screamed from inside the bathroom.

Ichimaru giggled. He placed his hand at the side of his mouth and shouted right back at Ulquiorra from outside, "Woo, the PMS just kicks right in, doesn't it??"

To the silver haired man's disappointment however, Ulquiorra did not reply to that statement. The emerald eyed arrancar did not dare to talk back to his superior. Plus, what Ichimaru had said happened to be extremely true.

Inside the bathroom, Ulquiorra was trying to put the bra on. Contrary to what Szayel had thought, he had dealt with the "Crimson Wave" (or "Red Tsunami") situation easily. It was not that hard. The only annoying part was that he had to wash his pants. Of all the most inconvenient and ridiculous things to happen. Oh, and he had to put up with Ichimaru-sama's constant jibes. Sometimes the fox faced man could be too playful for Ulquiorra's liking. What he was having trouble with now was with the bra.

How on Earth did females deal with this nuisance everyday of their lives? Well, except the ones that does not bother wearing one anyways.

No matter how he twisted and turned, he could not get the damned thing _on_.

As annoying as he found this, he was not going to give up. The last thing he wanted to do was to be braless under his top, letting people "see" what was going on underneath. Ulquiorra struggled some more with the clasp and finally, _finally_ after a few minutes of torture, he heard a soft 'click', telling him that he had the bra on securely.

Yes!

And with that, Ulquiorra quickly donned his new uniform that Aizen-sama had provided for him, pulling a face as he did so. His new uniform looked as slutty as most of the other female arrancars' uniforms in Las Noches. He dearly wanted to wear his old, usual uniform but Aizen-sama simply forbade it, stating that it would make the change look more obvious to everyone else.

Ulquiorra sighed. Aizen-sama had a point. He did not want anyone to figure out that the Cuatro Espada had turned into a girl.

The emerald eyed Espada eyed his new uniform with distaste, pulling at the hem of his skirt self consciously. Good God, was it him, or was this skirt wayyyy too short? The footwear he was forced to wear was unforgivable. He was made to wear a pair of pure white high heeled boots. Ulquiorra was having trouble trying to walk without stumbling forward. And his top! It was very much like Halibel's except that his did not cover half his face (it went up to his throat) and that his was more modest seeing that it covered his boobs (thinking of the fact that he now had boobs made him shudder) instead of half like Halibel's. Damn it. This was so degrading. Must his uniform be so… _revealing_?

Ulquiorra was beginning to think that Aizen-sama and Ichimaru-sama might be perverts since the both of them designed all of their uniforms.

Once he had deemed himself presentable after much fidgeting, Ulquiorra opened the door, walking out shakily. How on earth did women walk in these damned things?? "I'm ready."

"About time. Becoming a girl has made you prissy," Ichimaru commented easily.

Ulquiorra ignored the silver haired former shinigami. Ichimaru, Szayel and Ulquiorra walked out of the room with the emerald eyed arrancar closing the door shut and following Ichimaru and Szayel a few feet away. He was not very eager to enter the Meeting Hall. However, Ulquiorra stopped in his tracks when he heard an all too familiar voice break in through his thoughts, making him stiffen in fear.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?"

Slowly, Ulquiorra turned his head and emerald was met with sapphire.

Shit.

* * *

Grimmjow was getting restless.

Where was Ulquiorra?

Unable to take it anymore, he stood up. He was going to look for Ulquiorra. He knew that the Cuatro Espada did not want anything to do with him, but all he wanted to do was to actually see if Ulquiorra was alright. He did not need to speak to the pale arrancar. Seeing him well was more than enough to calm Grimmjow. The teal haired arrancar was about to leave when Aizen's voice called out to him.

"Where are you going, Grimmjow?"

Ah, shit. He had totally forgotten about Aizen.

He looked over his shoulder, cerulean eyes looking directly into calm brown ones of his superior. "I'm going to take a dump," he said bluntly.

A total lie but Aizen seemed to have bought it. Or he just did not care. He merely raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"You are such a pussy, Sexta. Chasing after Ulquiorra like that," Nnoitra sniggered. "You don't have a chance in hell."

Grimmjow could feel his eyebrow twitch. It took all of his willpower not to give a retort to that comment. And also the temptation to actually take a dump on the idiot Quinta Espada's head. His face set in his trademark scowl, Grimmjow shoved his hands into his pockets and strode out of the Meeting Hall, ignoring Nnoitra completely. The guy was an ass and Grimmjow did not care for him.

The teal haired arrancar stalked the halls towards where the Espadas rooms were situated, taking the long way. He knew exactly where Ulquiorra's room was. It was only two rooms away from his. Every day he would walk past that room, wanting to knock on that white door and talk to the Cuatro Espada. But each time, he would chicken out. But not this time. Grimmjow set his jaw, determined. As soon as he was sure that Ulquiorra was alright, he was going to have a talk with the smaller arrancar, whether he liked it or not.

Motivated by this thought, Grimmjow quickened his movements and when he was finally a few feet away from his destination, he stopped in his tracks. Grimmjow blinked, unable to believe his eyes.

He felt like an arrow had been released and went right through his heart, piercing it.

What was a woman doing in _Ulquiorra Schiffer's_ room and wearing _Ulquiorra Schiffer's_ helmet?

"_And those screams sounded very… __feminine__."_

_Grimmjow tried keeping his cool and said calmly. "And what is that supposed to mean?"_

_Nnoitra's grin, if possible, widened even further. "It means that Ulquiorra has a girl in his bedroom." He looked smug. "He must have been fucking her pretty roughly to make her scream like that."_

Grimmjow did not know who the hell she was, but the moment he saw her walking out of Ulquiorra's room, he hated her. And the fact that she was very attractive made the blow even worse. Attractive at first glance and from what he could see of her anyways. Her movements were graceful, her form slender and petite, her skin flawless and very much like porcelain. Grimmjow wanted nothing more than to see her burn on the spot. Unable to stop himself, he found himself speaking, words coming out of his mouth, angry and bitter.

"Who the _fuck_ are you?" Grimmjow growled at the petite woman's retreating back.

The woman stopped in her tracks at the sound of his voice. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder and Grimmjow nearly took a few steps backwards when he saw how eerily alike her eyes were with Ulquiorra Schiffer's. A bright emerald.

"Who… who the hell are you?" Grimmjow gasped.

She hesitated and when she finally came to a decision, was about to open her mouth to answer him, when Ichimaru and Szayel came, grabbing her by her arms.

"Bad Kiorra-chan," Ichimaru scolded her even though he was smiling, "You shouldn't be talking to anyone until after the meeting. You know better than to make Aizen wait." He clicked his tongue. Noticing that Grimmjow was still standing there with a look of utter shock on his face, the silver haired shinigami said, "Grimmy-chan. I think it's about time for you to return to the Meeting Hall, ey? Aizen has a pretty important announcement to make."

"Guh?" Grimmjow said stupidly, still shocked.

Ichimaru nudged Grimmjow, who was still staring at Ulquiorra, a stupefied expression on his face. "My, my. Looks like someone thinks Kiorra-chan is pretty! She really is a cutie, ain't she?"

"Ichimaru-sama, please…" the female arrancar mumbled, hiding her face behind her bangs.

"Aww, don't be shy if Grimmy-chan thinks you are a cutie!" Ichimaru giggled, making the slender arrancar turn red.

It took several moments for the statement that Ichimaru had made to sink into Grimmjow's head. When it finally did, Grimmjow's sapphire eyes snapped wide open and he gasped, "That ain't why I was staring!"

"Then why were you staring, eyh Grimmy-chan?" Ichimaru looked like he was having the time of his life right now.

"I… uh… Damn it…"

"You were staring because you think she is cute, am I right, Grimmy-chan?"

"No! That ain't right!"

"Yes, it is."

"You've got it all wrong!"

"No, I haven't."

"I'm not lying!"

"Grimmy and Kiorra-chan, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes marriage..."

"You know what, FUCK YOU."

"Nah, nah. I think you would rather do that to Kiorra-chan, not me."

"Excuse me," Szayel interrupted. "Aren't we supposed to be going for a meeting? Aizen-sama is waiting for us."

The smile on Ichimaru's face immediately disappeared, suddenly realizing how much time that they had wasted. "Shit," he muttered. Turning to look at his subordinates, his demeanor unusually serious, he said, "Let's go. Grimmjow, you lead. I'm gonna make sure that Kiorra-chan here doesn't run away." He grabbed Kiorra by the arm, pulling her behind him as they made their way to the Meeting Hall in a group.

* * *

Grimmjow did not know what to make of Kiorra. She hardly spoke and she had kept her face away from him during the whole time that they all walked to the Meeting Hall. It was like she feared him. Even as they walked through the doors into the Meeting Hall and she, Ichimaru and Szayel went up to Aizen while Grimmjow took his seat at the table, she did not say a word or even spare him a glance.

_Cold bitch_, Grimmjow thought.

Her behaviour reminded him of Ulquiorra in a way. In the way they both acted like they wanted nothing to do with him. But this was just his first meeting with her; it was not like he knew her well so he could not really say much on the matter.

"Hey, Sexta, who is the new bitch?" Nnoitra nodded towards Kiorra who was now talking to Aizen. It looked like they were very deep in an important discussion.

"Beats me," Grimmjow said. "I only know that her name is Kiorra."

"Hmm." Nnoitra leaned back, his hands behind his head as he looked the new arrancar over. "Meh. That kinda chick would go for Ulquiorra."

"What makes you say that?" Grimmjow feigned interest. No doubt that whatever the Quinta had to say was unimportant.

"Because." Nnoitra looked at his nails. "She looks just as stuck up as that bastard. They are made for each other. Besides, she kinda looks like him. Except with tits."

The teal haired arrancar felt like the vein in his temple that had been throbbing ever since Nnoitra had started getting on his nerves earlier on might just explode any second. No one. No one should ever insult Ulquiorra Schiffer in front of him. Seeing the way how calmly Nnoitra had said it as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say pissed him off even more. Grimmjow tried counting to ten. He heard that this was a good way of keeping his temper in check.

One… two… three… four… four… four… FOUR… What comes after four again? Damn it!

Not working.

That. Was. It.

"You asshole!" Grimmjow growled.

He started forming a cero in his hand when Zommari, who was sitting right next to him said, grabbing his wrist as he did so, "Enough, Grimmjow. He is not worth it."

"What the hell do you care??" he spat. "I'm gonna cero his fucking face off!"

Nnoitra stood up then, grinning. "Kyahaha! I'd like to see you try, Sexta!" he challenged. He stuck his tongue out, a golden cero forming at the tip.

Zommari looked at Stark.

The Primera Espada did not miss the hint that went with that look. "Oh good God," he sighed. "Why do I have to do everything around here?" he yawned tiredly. Resting his head in his arms, Stark cracked an eye open and looked at both Quinta and Sexta. "Grimmjow, Nnoitra, knock it off," he drawled.

The both of them immediately knocked it off but continued to stare daggers at each other as they both sat back down in their seats grudgingly.

Only a complete idiot would dare anger and take sleep away from the Primera Espada.

* * *

The moment that the doors to the Meeting Hall opened to the moment he had taken to walk towards Aizen-sama had to be one of the longest moments he had ever gone through in his entire life. Ulquiorra could feel his comrades' eyes on him, sizing him up, looking him over, wondering who he was, whether he was some unknown lower arrancar or a newborn. Some even looked confused. Some looked curious and mildly interested. Some looked at him in a perverted way (in Nnoitra's case). Most of them looked suspicious and even hostile. The relationship the Espadas had with each other could not be described as pleasant.

Ulquiorra squeezed his eyes shut. He knew that this was stupid. There was no way that they were going to think that he was not Ulquiorra Schiffer. They were going to know as soon as they see his face.

"Aizen-sama." Ulquiorra bowed before the brown haired shinigami as soon as he was in front of his superior. "I'm sorry for the delay."

"Kiorra," Aizen said, nodding to acknowledge Ulquiorra's presence. He chose to call Ulquiorra by his new name in case any of the other Espada were listening in on their conversation. One could not be too careful. "Why are you late?"

"There has been some problems…" Ulquiorra began.

"She got her period," Ichimaru said so loudly that a few of the Espada that were nearby turned to look at them curiously, some of them sniggering.

"Ohhhh… Kayyy…?" Aizen did not know how to answer to that statement.

Ulquiorra turned crimson. He felt like dying. Why must Ichimaru-sama do this to him? What was so bad that he had done that he deserved this? What? Just what, exactly? He was already embarrassed enough having to wear such a skimpy outfit and now the fact that he had gotten his period was made public made it a million times worse. As if he did not feel bad enough when he had found two unsightly growths sitting on his chest when he woke up this morning.

And then there was the fact that Grimmjow had caught him coming out of his room. He had nearly panicked when Grimmjow stared at him. Ulquiorra had thought that he was done for, that his secret was revealed, and he had not even been a girl for a whole day yet.

Unable to take the uncomfortable stares that he was receiving, Ulquiorra decided to change the subject.

"Aizen-sama, what was the announcement that you wanted to make?"

"Ah, yes. Thank you for reminding me, Kiorra." Aizen turned to look at the rest of the Espada, his arms spreads wide open. "My beloved Espada. I have a very important announcement to make. It concerns some changes made in the Espada and I am going to give out a mission."

All of the Espada listened to Aizen intently. Even Grimmjow and Nnoitra. They gave him their full attention. They could tell that Aizen had something very important to say.

Seeing that everyone was giving him their full attention, Aizen continued, satisfied, "I am sad to inform you that our Ulquiorra Schiffer will not be able to be with us at the moment."

A hushed silence fell upon the Espada. They all seemed to have the same thought running through their minds;

What had happened to Ulquiorra Schiffer?

Grimmjow stared at Aizen in disbelief. This could not be true. He was about to ask Aizen what was wrong when Aaroniero beat him to it.

"What? Why? What's wrong with him?" Aaroniero said, his eyes wide.

"There is nothing wrong with him. He is simply away at the moment. I have sent him on a very important mission. He will probably be gone for a few months." The brown haired shinigami smiled gently. Even though the man was smiling, they all knew that behind that gentle smile lies a warning. That smile said not to question him any further on the subject or else.

The teal haired arrancar felt like the room was spinning. Ulquiorra was gone? But he had only seen the little guy just yesterday! He did not mention anything about a mission to Grimmjow at all. But.

But then again, it was not like Ulquiorra ever cared to tell him anything.

However. There was something fishy going on. Grimmjow could feel it. Ulquiorra's sudden disappearance, this new Kiorra chick suddenly popping out of nowhere? Aizen usually announced during meetings whenever he wanted to send one of them out on missions and Grimmjow certainly would have remembered hearing Aizen tell Ulquiorra to go on a mission that could take months to complete. And that Kiorra chick. That was another thing. All Espadas were required to be present whenever a new arrancar was to be born. To greet the new one. And by the looks on everyone else's faces, they were trying to remember whether they had been to see Kiorra's birth. And forgetting a person that looked like Kiorra was a very hard thing to do.

Everyone was thinking the same thing. Grimmjow too. Where the hell did this girl come from?

And why did she have the same broken mask as Ulquiorra?

Grimmjow placed his chin onto the palm of his hand, staring at Kiorra critically. The woman was not even looking at them. She was looking at the floor. No surprise there. The Espada were not exactly a very friendly lot. Grimmjow frowned. Come to think of it, he had not been able to get a proper look at the woman. All that he had seen of her was her emerald eyes. After that, she had hid her face behind her bangs, almost as though she did not want him to see her face.

Wow, she must be really ugly if she went through all that trouble just for that.

"But not to worry, there will be a replacement for the spot of Cuatro Espada while Ulquiorra Schiffer is away. A substitute."

The teal haired arrancar blinked. Ah, shit. He must have zoned out for awhile there. Aizen was looking at him as he said this. A sign to pay attention or be obliterated. Grimmjow focused on the topic at hand. Must. Listen. Must. Not. Be. Obliterated.

Some of the Espadas were excited at this piece of news.

"A substitute? Will one of us be picked?" one of them called out hopefully.

The brown haired shinigami shook his head, smiling. "No. I have already chosen his substitute." The hopeful looks on some of the Espada were immediately deflated. Some even cursed under their breath. However, Aizen merely ignored them. "I introduce the substitute Cuatro Espada, Kiorra."

"That's your cue," Ichimaru whispered into Ulquiorra's ear. He gave Ulquiorra a light push, making the slender arrancar stumble forward, nearly tripping over his boots. Once he managed to straighten up, Ulquiorra said, "Urm… Hi… Nice to… meet you?"

He received glares from all of the Espada.

When Ulquiorra had stumbled out of the shadows behind Aizen's chair, the light fell upon his face, making Grimmjow's jaw nearly drop to the ground. He stared at the new Cuatro Espada that stood before all of them, wide eyed, shock and disbelief written all over his handsome face. He gripped the edge of the table so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"All of you are to treat Kiorra with respect. She has every right to be here. Now, I would like to speak about a very important matter…"

Weren't arrancars supposed to go through some sort of test to become a part of the Espada?

"I shall only entrust this mission to two Espadas that I trust. There will be no arguments. My decision is final."

And all current Espadas were supposed to be present if such an event takes place… He had only met Kiorra about half an hour ago!

"There is a certain individual that has caught my attention. He is a substitute shinigami and I think that he may have the potential to ruin my plans. Our cause. From what I have observed, if gone unchecked, he may become very powerful. He possesses a very high level of reiatsu. Surprising for a Ryoka…"

What was so special about this chick?

"His name is Kurosaki Ichigo. I shall need two of you to spy on him for me. Get information on him. I don't care what you do to get it. You can get close to him. Watch him. Get it from his friends. See whether my prediction is true. If it is, you will have to report directly to me. Do not harm him unless you deem it necessary…"

Was it just a coincidence that her mask was so similar to Ulquiorra's?

"I have already chosen two Espadas to take on this mission. They will both have to work together and live in the human world while carrying out this mission."

But most of all, who the FUCK was Kiorra?

"I have already booked a hotel room for these two Espadas. I expect the both of them to get ready and pack as soon as this meeting is over. They will both be briefed on the matter. I will give them exactly one hour to get ready before making the trip."

And why did she look like…

"The Espadas that I have chosen are Kiorra." Aizen paused, eyeing his subordinates. "And Grimmjow Jeagerjaques."

And another thing…

Wait. Wait. Wait.

Come again??

For the second time that day, Grimmjow had a stupefied expression on his face and for the second time that day as well, he said, "Guh?"

And the funny thing was, Ulquiorra did the exact same thing.

* * *

"Sousuke, do you think that it is wise to pair Ulquiorra with Grimmjow?"

Aizen seemed to be looking at something over Ichimaru's shoulder but the silver haired shinigami ignored this, thinking that Aizen was at least listening to him.

"You do know that the both of them have a very bad relationship? In fact, they hate each other."

"..."

"They may not even be able to do the mission properly. I like drama but not to the point where plans will be risked getting ruined."

"Hmm," Aizen said absentmindedly.

Getting irritated by the lack of response that he was receiving from the brown haired shinigami, Ichimaru said, "Are you even listening to me??"

"I like cookies."

"What?" the fox faced man said in disbelief. Had Aizen finally gone nuts? What on earth could be so fascinating to look at that Aizen was not paying attention to a single word that he was saying? Ichimaru followed Aizen's gaze and he soon knew what the brown haired shinigami was so preoccupied drooling over.

Ulquiorra was heading towards Grimmjow.

And Aizen was staring at Ulquiorra's backside.

Ichimaru rolled his eyes. "I should have known." He muttered under his breath, "Maybe I should grow a pair of tits, maybe _then _you would listen to me."

"Maybe you should."

Gin frowned. _THAT_, Aizen could hear??

* * *

As soon as the meeting was over, Ulquiorra approached the Sexta Espada cautiously. The teal haired arrancar was watching him suspiciously. He did not blame him. It was strange that this Kiorra character suddenly came out of the blue and was declared as the substitute Cuatro Espada. That was a bit hard to swallow. He was to work with the Sexta now. He could not believe that of all people that Aizen-sama could have chosen to be his partner, he had to choose Grimmjow Jeagerjaques. Was the man able to read minds or something?

Grimmjow eyed Kiorra as she approached him. She looked nervous and self conscious.

When the petite female was directly in front of him, Grimmjow could not help taking a step backwards. Sapphire eyes widened. Tear track marks running down from under each bottom eyelid. Pale skin. Black and white lips. Messy, raven hair. The greenest eyes that only one other person that Grimmjow knew had, the colour of emerald. She looked hurt when he moved away from her.

"Urmm… Hello, Grimmjow," Kiorra said timidly. "I guess that we will be working together from now on." She laughed nervously.

But Grimmjow could not help it. Because, now that he had gotten a closer look of her, he suddenly realized how eerily alike she looked with Ulquiorra Schiffer.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry for the late update. Reviews are appreciated.**


	4. Someone New

Aizen entered Szayel Aporro Grantz's laboratory with Ichimaru Gin trailing behind him. Upon spotting the pink haired scientist, who nodded at him, Aizen advanced towards the spot where the Octava stood, which was next to a table where two large items were placed on carefully. "Szayel, are they ready?" the brown haired man asked, gesturing at the items on the table.

Szayel nodded. "Yes. Ulquiorra and Grimmjow's gigais are ready."

"Excellent," Aizen said as he eyed the two clothed gigais on the table.

Ichimaru looked at the gigais over Aizen's shoulder curiously, a smile ever present on his lips. The gigais looked exactly like Ulquiorra (_female_ Ulquiorra, anyways) and Grimmjow did, except for the presence of their Hollow holes, broken masks and markings. They looked human. Szayel really was excellent at what he did. These two gigais were perfect, so what Aizen said next surprised him somewhat.

"These are perfect," Aizen said, "However, there is one or two things that I would like to change about Ulquiorra's gigai."

Szayel raised an eyebrow. "And what would that be, Aizen-sama?"

At the look on Aizen's face, Ichimaru groaned out loud, "Oh God, no, Sousuke…"

* * *

Ulquiorra was packing up his belongings into a little suitcase. He did not have many things to bring, just the essentials; toiletries and the God forsaken items that Szayel had given him. It was not like he had many clothes to bring. The only clothes that he owned were his Espada uniform. He eyed them all with distaste. Even so, he still had to rush to pack his things up because he was held up by Grimmjow.

_Grimmjow narrowed his sapphire eyes at Ulquiorra, suspicion written in them._

"_Just who the hell are you?" the Sexta Espada said._

"…"

_What was Ulquiorra supposed to say? He was speechless._

"_Who are you?" the Sexta demanded once more._

_Brain switching on to thinking mode, Ulquiorra thought quickly, trying to think up of a reasonable answer that the teal haired Espada would accept. "I'm… uhhh… I'm Ulquiorra's cousin!" Ulquiorra invented desperately. "I'm Kiorra Schiffer!"_

"_Hmm." Grimmjow did not seem happy and he still eyed Ulquiorra with suspicion but he seemed to accept this answer because he did not press Ulquiorra any further on the matter. "Tch. Then I'll see you later then, Ms. _Schiffer_." He threw one final look at the Cuatra Espada before finally leaving a visibly shaken Ulquiorra._

Ulquiorra closed his eyes, his grip on the edges of his suitcase tightening. Did Grimmjow suspect him? It seemed that way. He could tell that the Sexta did not completely trust him. But what could he do about it? Nothing. Ulquiorra would just have to live with it as long as he was in this disgusting female form.

It was just a stroke of luck that he was able to come up with a good enough excuse for why he looked so similar to the Ulquiorra that Grimmjow knew. He should have said he was his sister instead of his cousin, but that moment has passed. There was nothing he could do about it. Ulquiorra settled on to his bed, sighing as he did so.

Going on a mission with Grimmjow and living with him in the human world while doing so.

He wondered how that would be like.

Will he be able to get through this whole ordeal with a Grimmjow who seemed to hold some sort of grudge towards his other identity, Kiorra?

Only time could tell.

"Ulquiorra!" A knock on the door. "Are you decent?"

"Yes," Ulquiorra answered. From the voice, Ulquiorra knew that it was Szayel. And the pink haired scientist obviously remembered what had happened the last time he had entered Ulquiorra's room without knocking first. "Come on in."

Szayel entered the room then, carrying something that looked very much like a female human body over his shoulder and several articles of clothing in his free arm, a look of relief on his face. As attractive as Ulquiorra was in this state, he did not want to barge in like he had done before, accidentally catching Ulquiorra half naked. The Cuatra might just Cero his head off for it.

"What is that?" Ulquiorra asked, eyeing the body that was draped over Szayel's shoulder curiously.

The pink haired scientist placed the clothes on Ulquiorra's bed carefully before putting the gigai into Ulquiorra's outstretched arms.

"This," Szayel said, "Is a gigai of yourself. Kiorra. I have made it especially for your mission. It is essential so that you would be able to live as a human in the human world."

"Ah, I see." Ulquiorra stared at the gigai of himself. Szayel had done an excellent job on this gigai that was like an exact replica of him in his female form. The gigai had Ulquiorra's doll-like face and the same slender, petite body. The only things absent were his Hollow hole, his broken mask and his tear track markings. But that was to be expected. These attributes were not normal in a human being, after all. The gigai's lips were not black and white. They were a soft pink. The gigai's hair was also slightly longer.

The duplicate in his arms was also dressed in clothes that Ulquiorra could only call slutty. By his standards anyways. It was dressed in a green tank top (the same colour of his eyes) and an impossibly short denim miniskirt with equally impossible high heels on his feet to boot. But that was not what made Ulquiorra stare however, his eyes growing larger and larger by the second. He stared at the gigai's chest, then at his own, then at the gigai's, then at his own and then at the gigai's once more, his eyes glued to it.

"Err… Szayel?"

"Yes?"

"Why… Erm…" Ulquiorra hesitated. God, this was embarrassing. "Why does this thing have bigger breasts than I do?"

Indeed, the gigai that he held in his arms had slightly larger boobs than he did. They were not as large as Halibel's, but still. Its breasts were practically spilling out of the tank top for goodness' sake. It was horrifying.

"Oh, uhh…" Szayel turned red in the face. "Aizen-sama told me to do that…" he muttered under his breath but Ulquiorra caught it.

The Cuatra widened his eyes. "He _did_?" He looked down at the gigai once more and sighed. Well, if that was what Aizen wanted, then he would just have to follow the man's orders. Even if he did not see the point in them. Even if he would have to look like some sort of prostitute with a cute face to do it. "But… Why?" Ulquiorra asked, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion. What did a large bust have to do with anything with the mission?

If possible, Szayel turned an even darker shade of red. "Uhhh…" He sweated. Well, this was awkward. How was he going to explain their leader's perverted actions to the innocent Ulquiorra? Spotting the articles of clothing on Ulquiorra's bed out of the corner of his eye, he grabbed them and shoved them in front of Ulquiorra's face. "Since you don't have any normal clothes, I have prepared some for you," Szayel said, in hopes of changing the subject.

It worked though, because Ulquiorra eyed the clothes in distaste, his question completely forgotten. Most of them were quite revealing. Weren't there any _other_ clothes that he could wear instead of these? "Since I think that this mission is going to take some time, I don't think that these are enough," the slender arrancar stated plainly.

The Octava nodded. "Exactly. That is why Aizen-sama is providing both you and Grimmjow quite an amount of money to buy clothes and food."

Ulquiorra let out a breath of relief. "Well, that's good." He did not plan to wear any of these revealing clothes for too long. As soon as he got to the human world, he was going to buy some pants.

"Oh, and Aizen-sama said that you can buy any clothes that you want," Szayel said. "But no pants or anything loose fitting."

Damn it.

Szayel turned to leave. It seemed that he was done explaining everything that he was supposed to explain to Ulquiorra. He rested his hand on the doorknob, looking at Ulquiorra over his shoulder as he did so. "Now, get into you gigai. You will be leaving soon. I'm going to set to work on a cure for this right away."

"Fine," Ulquiorra sighed. He entered the gigai. Once he was in it, he stretched himself, feeling his muscles strain as he did so. He wrinkled his nose. In this gigai, he had the athletic ability of a female who hardly exercised. In other words, he was weak.

"Oh, and another thing." Szayel opened the door, ready to leave. "I have also prepared a few larger sized brassieres for you."

Now, isn't life just a bitch?

When Ulquiorra heard the door click shut, he bent over his suitcase which was placed on the bed. It looked like he needed to pack his new clothes in it now. It would not be long till he would be called to go to the human world with Grimmjow.

* * *

Grimmjow was not happy. He was not satisfied with the answer that Kiorra had given him earlier. Ulquiorra had a cousin? He had never heard about the former Cuatra actually having any cousins. Let alone any relatives. It was not that he was angry with Kiorra; it was more like he was angry with himself. If what Kiorra had said was true, he felt stupid for not knowing such a fact about Ulquiorra. He still did not care for Kiorra, nor did he trust her. He did not care that she was now Cuatra Espada, even as a substitute. Because in his eyes, that was all that she would ever be; a substitute.

She may carry the Schiffer name, but she was nothing next to Ulquiorra.

But the teal haired arrancar knew that he did not really think that way of her. He just could not help it. He was still pretty sore about Ulquiorra leaving without telling anyone. It hurt. And having her turn up, taking Ulquiorra's place, really sucked balls.

Grimmjow and his two superiors', Aizen and Ichimaru, footsteps resounded across the hall. The two former shinigamis had picked him up from his room and they were now making their way to Ulquiorra's room, which now belonged to Kiorra. The Cuatra's room was not that far. It was only two rooms away from his. Grimmjow was already in his gigai and was wearing a white button down long sleeved shirt that fit him in all the right places and a pair of black slacks. He did not tuck in his shirt which added to his I-don't-give-a-fuck look.

Grimmjow did not know why Aizen had tagged along since it was only supposed to be Ichimaru who was to lead them to the human world, but the brown haired man had insisted on coming. All Grimmjow knew that it had something to do with wanting to make Kiorra more familiar with her leader since she was new.

Familiar his ass.

Noticing the Sexta's sour face, Ichimaru, who was walking beside him, spoke up.

"Not looking forward to working together with Kiorra-chan, are you, Grimmy-chan?"

Grimmjow flicked his sapphire eyes lazily at the silver haired man. "Hn," he grunted in response, shrugging, pulling his luggage behind him.

He did not bring much since Szayel had assured him that Aizen would be providing him and Kiorra with a large amount of money. Some of the money was in the wallet that his superiors had given him. It was tucked safely in his back pocket. The other half of the money was given to Kiorra.

To be honest, he was not sure what to feel about Kiorra. There was a part of him that hated her, resented her, in fact. But there was another part that was… he did not know how to put it; attracted towards her? He shook his head, ridding his mind of such thoughts. He did not want to think about it at the moment.

When they had arrived at the Cuatra's door, without thinking, Grimmjow grabbed the door knob, twisted it and swung the door open.

The sight that met his eyes nearly made him faint.

Kiorra was bending over her suitcase in front of them, so caught up in packing that she was completely unaware of her new visitors. She had bent down so low in a way that Grimmjow, Aizen and Ichimaru could see her panties and part of her perky butt. Aizen and Ichimaru seemed to appreciate this display, especially Aizen. Grimmjow, however, was a whole different story.

"HOLY FUCKING SHIT………………………….!!!" Grimmjow yelled. And as if on cue, blood spurted out of his nose.

"Hm?" Kiorra straightened up and turned around to find a flustered and embarrassed looking Grimmjow trying to staunch the flow of blood from his nose using his sleeve. There goes his clean, white shirt.

"ARE YOU FRIGGIN' NUTS, WOMAN??!" Grimmjow screamed in her face, surprising poor Kiorra. "You do not… You do not just bend over and… You… don't just… no bending… JUST DON'T FUCKING DO IT AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME??!"

The infuriating female Espada blinked. "Do what?" she asked, clueless.

Grimmjow really, really, _really_ wanted to strangle her then. He was about to go into another screaming tirade when he suddenly deflated, realizing that it was not worth getting pissed off over. "Tch. If you don't know, then never mind…" Grimmjow muttered, his cheeks tinted pink as he averted his sapphire eyes away from Kiorra's doll-like face. He shoved his one free hand into his pocket, kicking at an imaginary pebble on the floor, completely and utterly embarrassed.

"You are bleeding," Kiorra stated plainly.

"Yeah, well…" he said, embarrassed. "Forget about it. It's nothing."

Kiorra pulled a handkerchief out of the pocket of her miniskirt, gently removed the arm that Grimmjow was using to cover his nose from his face and cleaned up the mess, completely oblivious to what a nosebleed meant and who exactly caused it.

"Hey, hey…" Grimmjow said weakly, his eyes wide as he stared at her. She was way too close for comfort. Uncomfortable at their close proximity, he grabbed the handkerchief out of her hand and jumped away from her. "I can do it myself, thanks," he said awkwardly.

The emerald eyed arrancar looked at him and let her arms fall to her sides. "Ah, I see." She looked hurt but there was no way Grimmjow was going to take that back now. He knew that she had meant well, but he could not help feeling slightly uncomfortable. Especially since she was the reason for his uhh… _reaction_.

Deciding to break the tension, Ichimaru cleared his throat. Aizen still had not broken out of his daydream since he had seen Ulquiorra's knickers so he was useless at the moment. Why did he have to do everything around here?

"Kiorra-chan," Ichimaru addressed Ulquiorra, who snapped to attention. "Here is your half of the money for your trip to the human world. Money will be sent to you every week, so spend it wisely, okay?" He pressed a purse into Ulquiorra's hand.

Ulquiorra nodded.

"Good girl." The smile on Ichimaru's face widened. "Now, let's go to the human world."

A garganta was opened and before Ulquiorra stepped into the portal, he risked a glance at Grimmjow. The teal haired arrancar seemed to be looking away from him determinedly. Well, now he knew that their trip was going to be a hell of a lot of fun. Especially since Grimmjow obviously hated his guts. _Whoopee_, Ulquiorra thought sarcastically.

* * *

Ulquiorra hardly ever went to the human world. When he did, it was only to carry out missions and he did not have time to look around so he did not have much knowledge on humans. So now that he was in the human world, he could not help looking around in wonder, eyes wide. They were in town and there were humans everywhere. So this was what humans did. Women were bustling around, buying groceries. Teenage girls were out shopping with their friends, constantly shrieking over displays of beautiful clothing in the windows of stores. Men were driving to work. Teenage boys were hanging out as they checked out attractive looking girls. There were some children screaming and running around.

The noise was deafening.

He noted that even Grimmjow seemed to be fascinated, if not a little by their surroundings, however, the teal haired arrancar hid it with an air of annoyance. Only Aizen and Ichimaru did not seem to be at all impressed by the sights that the human world offered them. But that was no surprise. They used to be shinigamis, after all. Of course they would have a lot of experience in the human world.

Yes, Ulquiorra had lived in the human world, back when he was still alive. But that was many years ago and it seemed that the world had changed in his absence. There were now cars, tall buildings and technology. He guessed that he must have been away and dead much longer than he had thought.

"Aizen-sama," Ulquiorra said. "When are we going to reach the hotel?"

"Soon, Kiorra," Aizen replied, his eyes on an oblivious Ulquiorra's chest. "We are almost there."

"Oh, okay." Ulquiorra fell silent once more.

They passed by more buildings, shops and people. No one took notice of the two former shinigamis, of course. The two men did not bother with gigais. So the people only saw Ulquiorra and Grimmjow walking together side by side. If anyone saw them from afar, they would have thought that the two were a couple. But upon further inspection, they would feel the tension in the air between the two. Quite a few girls and women giggled or threw flirty looks Grimmjow's way, irritating Ulquiorra to no end. Luckily, the Sexta paid no heed to the fawning females, much to Ulquiorra's relief. Ulquiorra noted that teenage boys and men that they had passed by had the tendency to stare at Ulquiorra's backside.

Why on earth would anyone want to stare at someone's backside?

Humans nowadays were so weird.

"We're here," Ichimaru announced happily.

Ulquiorra looked up at the building that they had stopped in front of. It was very tall and it looked… expensive. How could Aizen-sama afford to pay for this if they were to stay here for months? Aizen-sama was a great man and everything but everyone had their limits. When they had entered their rooms, Ulquiorra's eyes widened even more. Even Grimmjow looked impressed, his façade slipping for a moment.

The room was… perfect.

It was tastefully furnished and there was even a little kitchen for Grimmjow and Ulquiorra to do their cooking. Oh, wait, scratch that. For _Ulquiorra_ to do the cooking. He doubted that the Sexta had any skills in cooking. The man would probably set the whole hotel on fire. The refrigerator was empty, though. They would have to buy some food later.

Noticing the look on Ulquiorra's face, Aizen said, "Don't you worry about the money, Kiorra. After all, my Cuatra Espada deserves the best."

Not sure how to reply to that, Ulquiorra nodded silently. The attention that Aizen-sama kept on giving him today was making him feel a bit confused. His superior usually gave him orders and that was it. But now, the man was actually _looking_ at him. Ulquiorra was not sure whether he should be glad for this or if he should run for the hills.

Ulquiorra explored the room while Grimmjow went off with Ichimaru and Aizen to look at the bedroom. The Cuatra saw that the bathroom was spotless. It had both a shower and a bathtub. And the living room had a couch and two armchairs facing a television set with a little coffee table in between. Ulquiorra doubted that they were going to be watching much television, though. Grimmjow and he will be having their hands full with dealing with that Kurosaki boy.

Ulquiorra had never met the boy before so he had not the faintest idea how the boy looked like. Aizen-sama did not even provide them with a photo of Kurosaki. All he had said was that Ulquiorra would know who the boy was as soon as he met him; Kurosaki had a vast reiatsu that was hard to ignore. Well, Ulquiorra supposed that that was good enough for him to go on. It was rare for mere humans to possess vast reiatsu.

"You have GOT to be freaking KIDDING me!" came Grimmjow's voice from the bedroom.

Curious, Ulquiorra walked into the bedroom where he met a seething Grimmjow and a laughing Ichimaru Gin.

"What's wrong?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Just take a look at the room!" Grimmjow seethed, pointing a finger at the innocent bedroom as though he had found it offensive.

"There's nothing wrong with it."

"Just look _properly_," Grimmjow insisted.

And so Ulquiorra looked. The bedroom seemed innocent enough. Ulquiorra found nothing offensive about it. It was tastefully decorated, just like the rest of the rooms and it even had a large bed…

Oh.

"There is only one bed." Ulquiorra's throat constricted.

"Damn straight!" Grimmjow said indignantly.

The Cuatra Espada felt like fainting. Not only did he have to work and live with the Sexta Espada, he would have to _sleep_ with him as well?? And not even sleep with him in a fun way, mind you. Sleep as in sleeping in the same bed. Together. That act itself was so intimate to Ulquiorra that he wanted nothing more than to bolt out of the room.

Enjoying the panicked and angered looks on the two Espadas' faces, Ichimaru decided to tease them some more. He sat down on the bed, making it move under his weight and sloshing sounds could be heard. When the looks of horror escalated on both Ulquiorra and Grimmjow's faces, the smile on Ichimaru's face widened. "Do you like it?"

It was a bed. Not just any bed. A _water_ bed.

Oh my fucking God.

"You're kidding me!" Grimmjow said in disbelief. "You have_ got_ to be fucking kidding me!"

The smile that was permanently plastered on the silver haired man's face told them otherwise.

"Why, Grimmjow, I would think that you would be jumping at this chance," Ichimaru said slyly.

Grimmjow's face turned red, a colour that contrasted with his own blue hair. "Shut up, you perv!" Grimmjow said heatedly.

But Ichimaru only laughed. "Well, since we have already brought you here to your hotel room, it is time for us to leave. Enjoy the bed," Ichimaru said easily, making Grimmjow growl. The fox faced man did not seem threatened by this, though. If anything, it only amused him even more. "Let's go, Sousuke. Sousuke?"

"Wait," Aizen said. He had been standing in the corner of the room the whole time but Ulquiorra and Grimmjow had not noticed him until now since they were too preoccupied freaking out over the God forsaken bed that they were to share. Aizen dug into his pocket and threw a coin over Ulquiorra's head, who was directly in front of him. "Oops, I seem to have dropped a coin. Can you help me pick it up, Kiorra?"

"Of course." Ulquiorra bent over and picked up the coin.

As he did so, Aizen imprinted the image in his mind. This was nearly as good as eating cookies. Once Ulquiorra had picked it up and placed the coin into his leader's hand, Ichimaru rolled his eyes and grabbed Aizen by the arm. "Come here, you horn dog," Ichimaru muttered, irritated. "We are going home." He looked at Ulquiorra and Grimmjow over his shoulder. "Good luck. Bye bye." He waved at them in his trademark way as he wished them goodbye before finally leaving the room.

The tension in the room was so thick, Ulquiorra felt like he would drown in it.

Kicking at his feet, Ulquiorra fidgeted. "Urm…" He looked at Grimmjow, who promptly looked away from him. Now that their superiors were gone, the man did not seem to want to talk to him. "So what do we do now?" Ulquiorra said helplessly.

"…" Grimmjow went into the living room and propped his feet up on the coffee table, Ulquiorra trailing behind him. The Sexta was plainly ignoring him.

Come on, say _something_, damn it. Ulquiorra badly wanted to shake Grimmjow.

Finally, the Sexta said, "Beats me." He added, "Hell if I care."

When the teal haired arrancar did not make any attempt to start a conversation with him or to even _acknowledge_ his presence, Ulquiorra gave up. If Grimmjow did not want to talk to him, then fine. Grimmjow must really hate him. The man had jumped away from him when Ulquiorra tried helping him with cleaning up his blood; how the Sexta started bleeding in the first place, he had no idea. And he also seemed especially repulsed with the idea of sharing a bed with Ulquiorra. Was Ulquiorra that disgusting? Ulquiorra was not exactly ugly, that much he knew. And as far as he remembered, he did not remember doing anything to offend Grimmjow since he had been turned into a female.

Deciding that he could not take the tension anymore, Ulquiorra said, "I'm going to buy the groceries." He needed a breath of fresh air to clear his mind.

"Hn," was all Ulquiorra received as a response from Grimmjow.

* * *

Once Grimmjow was sure that Kiorra was gone, he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the cushions. He knew that he should not have been so cruel to Kiorra, but right now, he did not fucking care about anything. He did not even want to be here in the first place. It was not like he could have any fun in this place; he had been sent here on a mission. So fun was out of the question. Not only was he not allowed to have fun, he had to spy on some stupid Ryoka boy? Grimmjow was pretty sure that he had better things to do than to just _watch _the boy. For example, he could be _killing_ the boy. Now THAT was fun.

And then there was also the fact that a certain emerald eyed arrancar's absence was bothering him.

_Ulquiorra_.

Where are you?

Grimmjow looked up at the ceiling. Many a time that he had spent arguing with Ulquiorra, irritating the Cuatra to no end, he remembered. He wished that he had not done that. Otherwise, things would have been different. And approaching the subject on dreams would have been much easier.

How long was Ulquiorra going to be away?

Grimmjow regretted not speaking to Ulquiorra on the matter sooner. Especially now that he was gone and Grimmjow had no idea how long the slender arrancar would be away. It could be days. It could be weeks. It could also easily be months, depending on how hard the mission that Aizen had sent him on was.

Grimmjow wanted Ulquiorra to come back. They needed to have a serious talk as soon as the real Cuatra returned.

With that last thought in mind, Grimmjow closed his sapphire eyes, the familiar image of Ulquiorra Schiffer's face forming in his mind's eye as sleep took him over.

* * *

Ulquiorra was no stranger to grocery stores. He had heard about them from lower arrancars. Aizen-sama usually sent a few to the human world every now and then to buy some food and his beloved tea. Since there was no way they could get any food in Hueco Mundo, they had to get their food from the real world. Sometimes Ulquiorra wondered where Aizen-sama had gotten his money from, but he supposed that the man had his ways.

Even though he had heard of grocery stores, this was his first time actually being _in_ one. He had some trouble trying to find it, at first, but he managed to get some directions from a few friendly residents of the town and here he was.

Ulquiorra stared up at the shelves of food, wondering which ones he should get.

There was just so many to choose from. Cans of food, vegetables, fruits, meat… Ulquiorra decided to buy a bit of everything, especially the canned food. He had a feeling that Grimmjow was the type that would eat a lot. It was a wonder that the lower arrancars were able to do this without breaking a sweat and some even _liked_ it. But then again, Ulquiorra supposed that they were used to it. And the human world did have much more to offer than Hueco Mundo, he had to admit that.

Once he had bought everything that they needed, Ulquiorra pushed the little trolley of food to the counter to pay. The cashier rang up the price and Ulquiorra paid the amount needed. Even with his little shopping trip, he still had quite a large amount of money left. Aizen-sama really was generous with the amount that he had given them.

Ulquiorra carried the plastic bags of groceries, intending to return to their hotel room. He had spent a long enough time shopping to avoid Grimmjow.

Grimmjow.

Ulquiorra sighed.

What was he going to do with the Sexta?

What would happen if Grimmjow had found out about his identity? This worry gnawed him at the back of his mind. What was he to do if Grimmjow found out? Ulquiorra would not be able to live it down. And then there was the matter of those infuriating dreams. Ulquiorra could have kicked himself for not taking an earlier initiative. If he had not hesitated and procrastinated on confronting the Sexta, their confrontation would not be postponed. _Or_, Ulquiorra's throat constricted_, if I'm going to be stuck this way forever, then the confrontation will never happen. _

He would forever live wanting to know the answer. But at the same time, he did not want to know. Because, what if he was not the one for Grimmjow?

Ulquiorra clutched at the plastic bags tightly.

_Well, if I'm going to be stuck this way forever_, Ulquiorra reasoned, _I will just have to tell him_.

There was no point in avoiding the confronting the Sexta if Szayel could not come up with a cure and his condition would be permanent. But that was only _if_ it was permanent. For now, Ulquiorra was going to keep his identity a secret from Grimmjow.

The emerald eyed arrancar was so lost in his thoughts that he had accidentally bumped into someone, making that person fall backwards onto the ground with Ulquiorra landing on top of that person.

"Ow! Watch it!" the young man cried out as his head hit the ground painfully. He rubbed at the back of his head as he studied Ulquiorra who had landed on his chest. Once the initial shock of being knocked over was gone, the angered look in his warm, brown eyes disappeared and it turned into one of concern. "Are you hurt?" he questioned.

"No, I'm not." Ulquiorra shook his head numbly. "I'm sorry," he apologized.

The young man shook his head. "Nah, it's alright." He laughed awkwardly. "Maybe we should get out of this position, huh?" Indeed, people had started staring at them. Some were even glaring at them, sending looks of disapproval their way. The young man stood up and held Ulquiorra's hand as he did so, pulling him up.

Once Ulquiorra was back on his feet, he dusted at his clothes.

"Are you new around here?" the man asked.

Ulquiorra looked up at the man. He was taller than Ulquiorra and, Ulquiorra noticed that the man's hair was an unusual shade of orange. "Yes, I suppose you can say that," Ulquiorra answered vaguely. "I just came here today, actually."

"I see." He paused. "Well, since you are new, maybe we can go out some time and I can show you around?"

The Cuatra immediately brightened up at that, the meaning behind the man's question completely lost on him. "Really?" Ulquiorra said hopefully. He did not like walking around like an idiot with absolutely no clue where he was going. And the young man seemed nice enough, so…

"Yes, really," he laughed. "What's your name?"

"Ul- I mean, Kiorra," Ulquiorra managed to catch himself. "Kiorra Schiffer."

"Well, it's a date then, Kiorra."

Ulquiorra blinked. A… date…? Was the man actually _flirting_ with him? "And what's your name?"

The young man raised an orange eyebrow. "Oh, I didn't mention it? My name is Ichigo. Ichigo Kurosaki."

* * *

Grimmjow woke up with a start, breathing hard, sweat trickling down his brow, the look on his face one of panic and confusion. In his dream, he had seen Ulquiorra Schiffer's image in his mind's eye. But then, the image suddenly morphed into someone else. Someone completely different.

"Kiorra," Grimmjow breathed hard and fast.

* * *

**HOW ULQUIORRA LOOKS LIKE AS A FEMALE:** Since some of you have asked me to draw how he looks like in his fem Espada uniform. I have drawn two drawings. The drawings are available on my Deviantart account, if any of you are interested in looking at them. The links are available on my profile.

**A/N:** Whoa. I didn't realise that it has been nearly a month since I've last updated this. Sorry if I disappointed any of you with this chapter. It's not that great or funny, I know. I actually struggled with writing this, so yeah. D: Reviews are appreciated.


	5. Challenging

Grimmjow stared up at Kiorra as the woman was babbling away about something that she was excited about, her pale skin flushed. When she had returned to the hotel room after grocery shopping, she was all silent-like. The moment Grimmjow asked her what was wrong, however, Hell's Gate opened because she just couldn't stop talking. Women. So _she _was supposed to be his potential soul mate now? What about Ulquiorra? He had never heard about the dreams changing without confrontation. Grimmjow narrowed his eyes. Sure, she was beautiful, but there was something strange about her that he could not quite figure out. Something fishy was going on.

"So what you're saying is that Ryoka boy asked you out on a date?" Grimmjow said slowly after the woman finished recounting her tale.

Kiorra nodded. She was back to her quiet self now, having run out of steam to talk. "Which is simply ridiculous," she said drily, brushing a strand of raven hair out of emerald eyes. "We are here on a mission, not to go on dates. Besides, I'm not gay." The moment the last sentence came out, she clapped a hand over her mouth in horror.

"What did you just say?" Grimmjow asked incredulously. "Do you have a dick hidden somewhere that I don't know about? Because by the look of those tits in front of my face, I'd say you're a chick."

Kiorra coloured. When she did not answer him, Grimmjow studied her face for a few seconds before saying, "Whatever." He cracked a lopsided smile, "I think that we've established the fact that you're very much a woman and that Kurosaki is very much a man. So you're not _gay_."

"So... what do we do now?" she asked, trying to ease the tension in the air.

"Ain't it obvious?"

She gave Grimmjow a blank stare.

Grimmjow pulled a wad of cash out of his wallet. "We, Kiorra, are going shopping."

"Why?" she said, not liking where this was heading.

"Because." Grimmjow's grin widened. "You are going to go out on a date with Kurosaki."

* * *

Why did he have to open his big mouth and tell Jeagerjaques about his date with Kurosaki? Ulquiorra felt like kicking himself. Did he have some sort of inability to keep his big mouth shut? Ulquiorra looked around his surroundings sourly. This was beyond humiliating. He was starting to experience some discomfort from wearing heels for so long. And the fact that he was suffering from PMS did not help his mood either. He was now in a women's clothing store with Grimmjow, looking for an outfit for his date with Kurosaki out of all things.

What made the whole experience a lot worse was that the store was filled with fawning females who were trying to get Grimmjow's attention. Thankfully, the teal haired Espada ignored them. Ulquiorra wanted them to drop dead. The raven haired Cuatra attempted to stare miserably at his feet, but saw that his new found boobs were blocking his way. Instead, he glared at the ever growing pile of clothes ranging from dresses to tank tops and skirts that Grimmjow had set to one side, willing for the damned things to burn.

"I may be many things, but I'm _not_ a cross dresser," Ulquiorra muttered angrily, fully aware that he was clad in a revealing tank top and tiny miniskirt as he said it.

"Eh?" Grimmjow said distractedly, going through more clothes.

"Nothing." Damn it! Again with his big mouth! What was with him today?

Luckily, Grimmjow was too busy looking for something for Ulquiorra to wear that he did not seem to have heard Ulquiorra properly. "What about this one?" Grimmjow pulled out a hot pink dress, shoving it in front of Ulquiorra's face.

Ulquiorra glared at the dress and pushed it away. He crossed his arms across his chest. "I don't care what you say, Grimmjow," he said angrily, "I'm _not_ going to wear a dress."

"Why the hell not? You've gotta look nice for your date with Kurosaki if we wanna learn anything about him." Grimmjow gathered the pile of clothes that he had chosen along with the hot pink dress and then pushed them all into Ulquiorra's unwilling arms. "You could've helped me choose these things, you know. This should be_ your_ kinda thing. I don't know what the hell is up with you. Harribel would have jumped at the chance. Now go on and try 'em on."

"Do I have to?" Ulquiorra tried to get out of the inevitable.

"Not unless you are willing to spread your legs for Kurosaki."

Ulquiorra blanched. "No," he finally conceded.

"Good," Grimmjow said approvingly. "Now get your butt in the changing room and try 'em on. We haven't got all day. Your date with the Ryoka is tonight." He pushed Ulquiorra into one of the changing rooms, completely ignoring the Cuatra's protests.

"I know, I know," Ulquiorra grumbled as he closed the door shut behind him. Of all the bloody luck. This was all Szayel's fault. He swore that the moment he returned to normal, he was so going to kill the Octava with his bare hands. He sighed. But as much as he hated to admit it, Grimmjow was right. He needed to get close to the Ryoka if they wanted to get more information for Aizen-sama. And this was the easiest and the safest way they knew how. Ulquiorra just hoped that it would not come to the point where he would have to _actually_ spread his legs for Kurosaki. He shuddered at the thought. Ulquiorra picked up one of the clothes that Grimmjow had chosen for him in distaste, holding it as though it was diseased.

It was a cute, lavender dress. As much as Ulquiorra hated to admit it, Grimmjow had taste. It looked like he did not have a choice. Ulquiorra stripped and slipped the dress on.

"Are you done yet?" Ulquiorra could hear Grimmjow whine outside the door.

"Be patient, Sexta," Ulquiorra said irritably. "I'd like to see you try wearing some of these things."

"I know some girls are into yaoi and have this sick fantasy of imagining guys in dresses, but I'm sure as hell not like that and I ain't gonna wear a dress. So you can keep those thoughts to yourself," came Grimmjow's irritating reply. "'Sides, I'm not the one going out on a date with Kurosaki. You are."

"Shut up."

Ulquiorra stepped out of the changing room, meeting an impatient looking Grimmjow. Like most men, he did not particularly enjoy shopping. "How do I look?"

"Like a chick in a dress, duh." When Ulquiorra glared at him, Grimmjow added hastily, "You look great."

"Good." Ulquiorra attempted to walk past Grimmjow. "Now that we've found an outfit, let's get out of here."

Grimmjow blocked Ulquiorra's way, stopping the raven haired Cuatra's movement. "Hey, hey, hey! Where do you think you're going, Kiorra?"

"Uhh… To pay for the dress?"

"No." Grimmjow bent down so that his eyes were level with Ulquiorra's, his face inches from the Cuatra's. "You are going to try on the rest of the clothes. I'm _not_ gonna come here again for another shopping spree so we're gonna finish everything today."

Ulquiorra gulped.

"You can't be serious," he choked out.

"Babe, I'm as serious as I will ever be."

And so began the one torturous hour where Ulquiorra would try on one outfit after another, coming out to model for Grimmjow once he was done changing, waiting for Grimmjow's approval before retreating grudgingly into the changing room again to change into a new outfit. A small audience had even gathered outside and they had told Grimmjow that his girlfriend was the cutest little thing that they had ever laid their eyes on, much to Ulquiorra's horror. Ulquiorra picked up the last dress from the pile. It was the hot pink one that Grimmjow had chosen for him.

Well, better get this over with. The sooner this was over, the better.

Ulquiorra slipped the dress on, letting the smooth material of the dress flow over his milky skin. Ulquiorra looked himself over. Even though he hated the dress the moment he laid eyes on it (I mean, come on, PINK?), surprisingly, the bright colour of the dress went well with his pale skin. It was a baby doll dress that ended above his knees so it did not cling to his form like the outfit that Aizen had provided him with. The dress was flowy and feminine. Cute, even. The only thing that Ulquiorra did not like about the dress besides the fact that it was _pink_ and a _dress_ was the fact that it was too short for his liking. But it sure as hell beat the rest of the outfits he had tried on so far so what the heck.

"Kiorra! I haven't got all day you know."

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes. Grimmjow was getting impatient again. "If you don't keep quiet, Sexta, I'm going to cero you," Ulquiorra said warningly. He took one last look at himself in the mirror, grimaced, and then stepped out of the changing room, ready to face a sour faced Grimmjow.

"Tch. I'd like to see you try. I bet you can't even…" and the words just died on Grimmjow's lips as he stared open mouthed at Ulquiorra, a soft shade of pink beginning to dust his tanned face.

"Well, what do you think?" When Grimmjow did not answer him, Ulquiorra shifted uncomfortably, not used to the way Grimmjow was looking at him. For a minute there, Ulquiorra had thought that his cover was blown and that Grimmjow had discovered that "Kiorra" was really Ulquiorra Schiffer. "What? What is wrong?" Ulquiorra said worriedly. Please let it not be that Grimmjow had discovered his secret. Please, please, please…

Grimmjow blinked, snapping out of his reverie. "Nothing. There's nothing wrong," he laughed awkwardly. "You look fine, Kiorra. Really." He cleared his throat and gathered the pile of clothes that he had approved of. "Now change out of that. You're gonna wear that to your date tonight. As soon as you're done, we're gonna pay for all of this."

Ulquiorra nodded and did what he was told, relieved that his secret was still safe. Minutes later, he found himself standing in front of the counter with Grimmjow by his side as the Sexta pulled out a wad of money to pay for all of the clothes.

"How much?" Jeagerjaques asked.

The cashier told him and the Sexta counted the exact amount of money needed before paying her. Thank goodness that Aizen had provided them with an ample amount of money, else they would not be able to pay for all of this. "Spending on your girlfriend?" the woman asked conversationally, handing over the clothes in a huge paper bag to Grimmjow, "You both look so cute together."

Ulquiorra blushed.

"Erm… yeah, thanks," Grimmjow replied distractedly. "Come on, Kiorra. Let's go." He grabbed Ulquiorra's hand, dragging him behind him, ignoring the stares he was receiving from the rest of the customers in the store.

Once they were outside, Ulquiorra let go of Grimmjow's hand and asked the teal haired arrancar, "Why didn't you just tell her that we aren't together?"

Grimmjow looked at him. "Because I can't be bothered to?"

"Oh." Ulquiorra deflated. "So, we're done shopping, right?" he asked hopefully, trying to change the subject.

"Hell no."

"What?" Ulquiorra said incredulously.

"We've gotta get some handbags, shoes, make-up and accessories to go with those outfits," Grimmjow said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

_Shit._

* * *

Hours later, Ulquiorra found himself carrying more shopping bags than he could ever imagine. Grimmjow was carrying the more heavy items and he was doing fine. Ulquiorra was probably having difficulties now because his legs fucking _hurt_. Damn these stupid heels. They were practically killing him. He felt like his legs might fucking fall off. Whoever created heels should be hanged. Ulquiorra scowled. They had been shopping for handbags, heels, make-up and accessories for hours and he was sick of it. He had tried on and bought so many things, he didn't want to think about it. His legs were sore and so were his arms. And he had a sinking feeling that his feet were covered with blisters.

Oh, yes. Life was good.

"Are we done shopping now?" Now, Ulquiorra was not one to whine but he was clad in tiny clothes, his legs and arms were sore, he was humiliated beyond belief, he was made to wear make-up, he was now officially a cross dresser, AND he was having his period, so shut the fuck up.

Grimmjow looked around to see what they could have possibly missed. "Hmm… Do you think we missed anything…?" Grimmjow mused.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Ulquiorra rounded on the teal haired man who looked down at him in amusement. The pain in Ulquiorra's feet was going straight to his temper, adding to his already foul mood. "We've gone to EVERY store in this fucking place, and you think we may have missed something? You're kidding me!"

"Nope. Why? Is there something wrong?"

"As a matter of fact, there is!" Ulquiorra began angrily, his PMS kicking right in. "For one thing, you made me wear dresses, try on dozens of shoes, made me wear make-up, look for handbags and on top of that, my feet-" He stopped. His pride would not let him admit to Grimmjow that heels were causing pain to the Cuatra Espada. Damn Szayel for not building a better gigai. His gigai was one of an average woman.

"What about your feet?"

"It's nothing. Just forget it."

"Hn." Grimmjow scratched the back of his neck as he looked around, checking if they missed anything. "I think we're done," he said finally.

"Really?" Ulquiorra said hopefully. Yes, he was in _that_ much pain.

Grimmjow nodded. "Uh-huh. I'm pretty sure."

Ulquiorra let out a sigh of relief, his temper going down. They were done. My God, after going to countless of stores and making countless of purchases, they were finally DONE. They were done shopping! Ulquiorra would have jumped into the air and whooped if his feet were not hurting so badly. Now that the shopping trip from hell was over, the only problem at the moment was his feet. Because every time Ulquiorra took a step, he had to suppress a hiss of pain. He did not know it was possible but the pain that he was experiencing had actually _escalated_. The next step he took, a hiss managed to wrench itself from his lips.

Nevertheless, no matter how slight the sound was, due to his keen hearing, Grimmjow had heard it.

"What's up with you?"

"Nothing," Ulquiorra lied. He'd be damned if he was going to let Grimmjow see him in his moment of weakness. "Let's go. My date with the boy is at seven and I'm not going to be late."

Sapphire eyes widened. "You're_ limping_."

"I'm fine. This is nothing," Ulquiorra said dismissively. He began walking to prove Grimmjow wrong. "See? I'm perfectly fine. I- Ack!"

"The hell you aren't!" Grimmjow growled. Ulquiorra had tripped but the teal haired Espada had managed to grab him by the waist. "Damn it, woman, why didn't you say anything before??"

The moment the Sexta's hands gripped his waist, all thought flew out of the Cuatra's mind. Ulquiorra struggled weakly in Grimmjow's arms. "Let me go, Jeagerjaques," he tried to say in his most commanding voice, trying not to show how much the Sexta was affecting him. "I'm capable of standing on my own."

Grimmjow scowled. "Tch. You sure are stubborn. Come here, let me help you." He wrapped his arm around Ulquiorra's waist while the pale arrancar held onto Grimmjow's shoulder for support. Grimmjow half-carried Ulquiorra as he guided him to a bench to sit on. Once Ulquiorra was seated, he knelt down. "You okay?" he asked, concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," Ulquiorra breathed. Now that he was seated, the pain lessened considerably. But the way Grimmjow was gazing at him was making him uncomfortable. "I'll just rest for a few minutes," Ulquiorra said edgily, "I should be- h-hey! Don't touch me there!"

Grimmjow rolled his eyes. His hands were on Ulquiorra's calves; the source of the Cuatra's nervousness. The feel of his skin against the raven haired arrancar's was making Ulquiorra colour. Even if the Sexta did not mean it that way, the way he was touching him was far too intimate for Ulquiorra's comfort. "Relax, Kiorra. I'm not gonna do anything if that's what you're so scared about. Geez." He slid his hands down Ulquiorra's calves slowly until they ended at his ankles, making Ulquiorra's breath hitch, unknowingly sending jolts of electricity across the Cuatra's skin. "I'm just gonna see the damage." And with that, he pulled the heels off of Ulquiorra's feet.

From where he was sitting, Ulquiorra could see that his feet were indeed covered with blisters. He was even bleeding slightly in some places. With feet like that, no wonder he was falling all over the place. Grimmjow did not cringe from the sight, nor did he make any snide comments, which Ulquiorra was thankful for. Instead, he was looking at Ulquiorra's feet carefully, his lips set in a thin line, before he pulled something out of his pocket.

"What's that?" Ulquiorra asked.

"Plasters," Grimmjow said simply.

"Where'd you get that?"

"Szayel," Grimmjow answered. "He said that it'll be useful in case your feet hurt from wearing those crazy heels. Now shut up so I can put them on you."

Szayel. Ulquiorra _really_ wanted to kill the Octava now. Fortunately for Szayel, his neck was not within reach of Ulquiorra's hands or else he would have found himself being choked to death. Szayel did this on purpose! He was trying to get him to get together with Grimmjow. He must have known that those stupid heels would cause him all of this agony and gave the box of plasters to Grimmjow. That scientist, always thinking two steps ahead. While Ulquiorra was seething, he barely noticed what Grimmjow was doing until he felt strong hands bandaging his feet with great care.

"So, Kiorra," Grimmjow began conversationally. "What happened to Ulquiorra?"

"Ulquiorra?"

"Yeah. Your cousin."

"Oh." Ulquiorra leaned back against the bench. "I have no idea. He just said that he has to go on a mission and he went off just like that." He avoided the question.

"Hm. Sounds like him." Luckily, Grimmjow did not pursue the conversation, choosing to focus on the task at hand.

Emerald eyes fell on that head of teal hair, watching as the owner bandaged him. Now that they did not have the task of shopping to do, Ulquiorra felt awkward again around the Sexta. With having a task at hand, he did not have to think too much about anything else but now that there was no task, his initial fear of having Grimmjow so close appeared. Was it okay to be close to the Sexta? What if he discovered Ulquiorra's secret? Ulquiorra certainly did not want anyone else to know. But then again...

"Alright. All done," Grimmjow announced. He stood up and sat next to Ulquiorra.

Throughout the whole time that they had spent together, Grimmjow did not suspect a thing. Though slightly suspicious about Ulquiorra's sudden disappearance, he thoroughly believed that "Kiorra" was Ulquiorra's cousin. So Ulquiorra did not have to worry about his secret being found out now did he? In fact... A mischievous smile tugged at the edges of Ulquiorra's lips.

"It's only temporary, but it'll help," Grimmjow said. "When we get back to the hotel room, you can sleep for awhile before your date."

"Okay." The smile stretched even further on Ulquiorra's lips. "Thanks, Grimmjow."

"No problem."

This meant that he could have some fun with the Sexta without any worry of being found out.

"Grimmjow, we did forget to buy something."

"What?"

"We forgot to buy cat litter."

"Why the hell do we need that for?" Grimmjow raised a teal eyebrow.

"Well..." Ulquiorra stood up and picked up his heels, the pain in his feet completely forgotten. He looked into sapphire eyes. "You do need a place for you to do your kitty business."

Confusion crossed Grimmjow's handsome face and before he could figure out what Ulquiorra had meant, the Cuatra walked away, chuckling to himself. When understanding finally dawned on him, however, Grimmjow was not amused. "KIORRA SCHIFFER!!!" he yelled, his face red. "THAT'S _NOT_ FUNNY!"

The raven haired Espada only laughed.

And hey, maybe a little flirting would not hurt.

* * *

Grimmjow was lying on the bed – yes, the dreaded water bed – when he heard the doorbell ring. Tch. It must be that Ryoka boy. And Kiorra was still not ready yet. She may not like doing things most women like, but she was still slow at getting ready. He stretched himself lazily on the bed and walked towards the bathroom, rapping his fist against the door. "Oi, Kiorra!" he called out. "I think that Kurosaki is here."

"Can you answer the door for me, please?" came Kiorra's distressed voice. "I'm not ready yet."

The teal haired Espada rolled his eyes. "Fine," he grunted. What was taking her so long? Deciding that he did not want to know, Grimmjow strolled towards the door to their hotel room and answered it. "Yo. Kiorra ain't ready yet," he said as soon as he opened the door.

Warm brown eyes looked up at him in surprise at Grimmjow's blunt answer without so much as an introduction. "Okay…" Ichigo said slowly, looking confused. Who the heck was this weird, blue haired guy staying here with Kiorra? Because as far as he knew, Kiorra had never mentioned about living with anyone else here. And this guy sure did not look he was related to her at all.

Noticing the confused look on Ichigo's face, Grimmjow said, "My name's Grimmjow. I'm Kiorra's brother." He and Kiorra had both agreed on pretending to be siblings here in the human world. They may not look the same but at least it was better than saying they were total strangers who have both decided to live together. Trying to get Kurosaki to be closer to Kiorra would be harder that way. Grimmjow leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed across his chest. A lazy smile made itself onto his handsome face. "And you're Ichigo Kurosaki, I bet. The guy who wants to date my sister."

"That's right." Ichigo shifted uncomfortably. He shoved his hands into his pockets. He did not like the way the teal haired man was scrutinizing him. Especially with that evil glint in his eye.

Grimmjow looked Ichigo over as the orange haired teen turned his face away, suddenly finding a spot on the wall particularly interesting. So, this was the famous Ichigo Kurosaki, huh? The one who wanted to bring Kiorra out on a date. The one that Aizen wanted him and Kiorra to keep an eye on. All in all, Grimmjow was not impressed. He had expected more. Not a cute, boyish teenager. Grimmjow could probably kick the boy around if he wanted to. Spying on this boy was a fucking waste of his time.

"I'm done." Kiorra appeared by Grimmjow's side. "Hello, Ichigo. Sorry for making you wait." She was wearing the hot pink dress and her face was made up. Not too much though. Just a hint of blusher on her cheeks, some mascara and a bit of pink lipstick on her lips. Grimmjow blinked a few times, speechless for a second. She looked extremely beautiful. That Kurosaki boy did not stand a chance with her. Grimmjow was sure of it. The boy would tell her whatever she asked as soon as she batted her eyelashes at him.

Ichigo instantly brightened up as soon as he saw Kiorra. "Hey, Kiorra. It's alright. Your brother kept me company."

Tch. More like sizing up his prey.

The orange haired teen offered Kiorra his arm, which she took. "I'll see you around then, Grimmjow?" Ichigo said.

Grimmjow nodded. "Have fun." Kiorra looked at him with her large emerald eyes for a second or two. She did not seem like she wanted to go, but duty was duty; it must be fulfilled. So she sighed and turned to smile sweetly at Kurosaki. After Kiorra and her date had both bade him farewell, the teal haired Espada watched until they disappeared from his sight. Now it was Grimmjow's turn to do his part of the job.

* * *

After having dinner at a decent restaurant, Ulquiorra was now in the cinema with Kurosaki. The movie had not even started yet. Ulquiorra had to admit; he was a little frustrated. The only information that he had gotten out of Kurosaki so far was that he had two twin sisters whose names were Karin and Yuzu, his father owned a clinic and that his orange hair was perfectly natural. All of these information were not useful for Aizen-sama. Ulquiorra needed to know how strong the boy was. He needed some sort of proof whether or not the boy was a threat to Aizen-sama's plans.

Ulquiorra had tried to get Kurosaki to talk about what he did during his spare time and the only answer he received was "collecting stamps" which made Ulquiorra want to scratch his eyes out. He was pretty sure that a boy that caught Aizen-sama's eye could surely have interests other than collecting stamps. The boy was obviously avoiding the subject. He was hiding something, that much Ulquiorra could tell. The boy was powerful. Just _how_ powerful? How far did his powers as a shinigami go?

Maybe he should try one more time.

"Ichigo."

"Yeah?"

The raven haired arrancar thought for awhile, trying to find the words to say without sounding too suspicious. "So, Ichigo, what other hobbies do you have? Other than collecting stamps."

Ichigo chuckled. "Why are you so interested to know?"

"Because." Time to use his "feminine" charms, or so that was what Grimmjow called it. Apparently, women did this a lot whenever they wanted something and Ulquiorra did not doubt it for a second. He had seen how Harribel had gotten Nnoitra to do things for her by just batting her eyelashes at him. While he was still in female form, he might as well take advantage of it. Ulquiorra laid his hand on Ichigo's arm, slowly lifting his emerald orbs to gaze into warm brown ones. "I want to know more about you."

Kurosaki looked at the hand that Ulquiorra laid gently on his arm, and then at Ulquiorra, a slow blush appearing on his cheeks. He opened and closed his mouth several times, as though wanting to say something.

Ulquiorra almost thought that he had him until Ichigo seemed to have gotten a hold of himself and coughed, changing the subject, "I think we've talked enough about me, Kiorra. What about you? I want to get to know you more too."

The raven haired arrancar knitted his eyebrows together in annoyance. The boy had totally dodged his question!

"What is there to know about me?"

"Well." Ichigo cracked a devilish smile. "The only thing I know about you is that your name is Kiorra and you have a brother named Grimmjow. I'd say it's time we talk about you more."

Ulquiorra cursed under his breath. Damn. The boy was good.

And so Ulquiorra had to think up of some sort of cock and bull story to satisfy the boy. He told Ichigo that him and his "brother" were here on vacation, that his hobby was reading, and a whole lot of other crap that he did not even remember. Nonetheless, Ichigo listened to his every word intently and when Ulquiorra finally finished talking about himself, he said, "Your turn. You have to answer my question now, Ichigo."

"Are you cold, Kiorra?"

"What?" Ulquiorra had been so intent on getting some information out of Ichigo that he did not realize that he was shivering in the stupid dress. But apparently, Ichigo had noticed. "Yes, I am. But, Ichigo, you didn't answer my-"

"Shh. Later." He placed a finger on Ulquiorra's lips and smiled. When the raven haired arrancar got the message and fell silent, the orange haired teen shrugged off his jacket and placed it on Ulquiorra's shoulders. "Here. This should help."

"Thank you," Ulquiorra murmured, drawing the jacket close to his body. This was going to be harder than he thought. Ichigo was purposely avoiding his question. He narrowed his eyes. Well, he was going to get that information sooner or later. It was still early. He would just have to get closer to Kurosaki. He looked at Ichigo out of the corner of his eye. The movie had just started and the orange haired teen was leaning against his seat, his concentration on the big screen. It would take some time, but Ulquiorra was going to get that information.

* * *

_My job sucks_, Grimmjow thought sourly. He had been following Ichigo and Kiorra ever since they had left the hotel. This was to ensure that in case Kiorra's cover was blown and that Kurosaki kid suddenly decided to slash her up, Grimmjow would come as back up. Which was utterly ridiculous because Kiorra was Cuatra whereas he was Sexta. When Grimmjow had complained about this, Kiorra just smiled and offered to switch places with him; Grimmjow to go on a date with Kurosaki, Kiorra to go on guard duty.

Needless to say, Grimmjow did not accept her offer. He did not fancy the thought of donning a dress just to get some information out of Kurosaki.

So he got stuck with this job.

Grimmjow scratched the back of his neck. Ever since he had that stupid dream, or vision, whatever, he had been trying to push it to the back of his mind. Maybe it was a fluke. But what if it wasn't? The teal haired arrancar sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. This was all way too weird and fucked up. Ever since Kiorra arrived, a lot of fucked up shit happened. Ulquiorra disappeared. She was appointed Cuatra Espada out of nowhere. His dream went haywire. Weird things seemed to happen around that woman. And she herself… there was something about her that Grimmjow could not figure out. Whatever it was, if that vision happened again, he was going to have to talk to Kiorra.

Ichigo and Kiorra had left the cinema some time ago and they were now walking back to the hotel leisurely. Grimmjow was sorely tempted to scream at them to get a move on but he resisted. He was fucking tired of following them around. He felt like a stalker. Finally, _finally_, after a few more minutes of walking, Ichigo and Kiorra had stopped in front of the hotel. Grimmjow stopped by a lamp post and observed the two from a distance. The both of them were talking for a few minutes and when it was time for them to part, Kurosaki leaned forward, his hands on Kiorra's shoulders, and pressed his lips against her forehead before leaving.

What. The. Fuck.

Grimmjow wanted him to die a painful death.

The teal haired Espada was still fuming when Kiorra, having sensed his reiatsu, approached him, her face flushed. "Grimmjow," she said, her eyes wide.

"What?!" Grimmjow snapped.

Kiorra was a bit taken aback by his sharp tone, but she continued, "What's a beach?"

The Sexta scowled. "It's a sandy area by the sea. Humans go there to sunbathe, play all sorts of sports and to relax. Why?"

"Oh." Kiorra paused. "Because Ichigo invited us to go to the beach with him one of these days."

**

* * *

**

**A/N: **Sorry for the delay. Had a horrible case of writer's block. And I was busy writing for a _Bleach Romance Writing Contest_ here on FF hosted by **Full Shadow Alchemist**. My first entry for the contest is already up. It's called "Daisies". Anyways, I hope this chapter is fine. Updates will be slow cos things are pretty hectic in college. Reviews are appreciated.

**FAN ART:** ChiharuSato22 and Ravefirell have both made fan art for this fic. Lots of love to the both of them! Links to their fan art are available on my profile.


	6. Are you single?

Grimmjow rubbed his temple, grumbling under his breath. That was the worst shopping trip that he had ever gone on and he hoped not to have to go through it again. Sure, the first shopping tripping was bad enough, but this one was worse, because he went alone. Atleast he was with Kiorra the first time. So you could imagine the stares that he had gotten when he went into a shop like that.

_That woman better be up_, Grimmjow thought moodily as he opened the door to their bedroom. Well, technically, the room was Kiorra's now since Grimmjow had opted to sleep on the couch. It was uncomfortable, yes, but he did not think it would be appropriate for them to share a bed. Yes, he was shy. Shut up. Nnoitra may be able to have sex with countless of women (and men, but you did not hear it from him) without a second thought, but it was an entirely different matter for Grimmjow. And if any of you even dare breathe this fact to other people, Grimmjow would be sure to bury you alive, ya hear? _Oh great, she ain't up yet_, was the Sexta's immediate thought when sapphire eyes landed on the sleeping figure on the bed.

Kiorra was fast asleep, her raven hair spread across the pillow, her chest rising and falling gently. For a moment there, she looked like Snow White.

_Tch. Looks like I'll have to wake her up._ Grimmjow walked towards the window and drew the curtains open. Sunlight streamed into the darkened room, brightening it up. This only made Kiorra pull the blanket over her head, though, so that she could continue sleeping. Grimmjow frowned at this.

Well then, it looked like Snow White was going to have one hell of a wakeup call.

Grimmjow poked her in the ribs.

Poke.

"Oi."

Poke.

"Kiorra."

A harder poke.

No response.

Grimmjow could feel a vein throbbing in his temple. "Wake up, woman! You've got a date to get ready for!"

The only response he got from her was her mumbling incoherently. Oh, for the love of God.

_Geez, this woman sleeps like a log_.

Grimmjow was almost tempted to grab her by the ankles and pull her out of bed when he caught sight of her pale feet poking out from under the blanket. But then he noticed the bandages on her feet. He sighed, the expression on his face softening. Turning back to the sleeping woman on the bed, Grimmjow sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Hey," he said softly as he shook her gently. "Come on, Kiorra, wake up. We need to get you ready for your date with Kurosaki."

Kiorra stirred slightly in her sleep before opening her eyes tiredly. Yawning, she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes, then squinted against the light as she stared up at Grimmjow. "Grimmjow?" she said, her mind still clouded with sleep. "What're you doing here?" She sat up in her bed and winced slightly. "And why does my side hurt?" Her hand went to the spot where Grimmjow had jabbed his finger at, massaging the area.

Grimmjow pretended not to hear that comment. "I'm here to wake you up so you'd get ready for your date."

"Date?" she repeated groggily.

"Yeah. The one with Kurosaki."

A blank stare.

"At the beach."

A blink. Some understanding returned to her as her mind started piecing things together. "Oh yes. My date with Kurosaki."

"Yeap," Grimmjow confirmed. He placed the plastic bag that he had been carrying onto Kiorra's lap. "And I bought you something to wear for your date."

"Really?" Kiorra picked the bag up curiously, opening it. She eyed the contents with suspicion, as though expecting something particularly awful to come out and jump at her. One thing Grimmjow had noticed about Kiorra, she did not seem particularly happy to have to wear women's clothes. There was one time when she actually tried to bite Grimmjow for trying to get her to wear one of the dresses they had bought the other day. When a shocked Grimmjow told Szayel this over a special cell phone that Aizen had provided him with to report on their progress, Szayel had simply dismissed it and said that Kiorra was just experiencing PMS. "When did you buy these?" Kiorra asked.

"While you were asleep. You sleep like a fucking log."

She furrowed her eyebrows. "I see."

After getting to know Kiorra for awhile, Grimmjow found that she was not too bad. Other than appearances, Kiorra was a lot like Ulquiorra in terms of personality. When she was, you know, not experiencing PMS. The only difference was that she seemed nervous around Grimmjow, like she was keeping something from him. Not that Grimmjow particularly cared. She was probably afraid that Grimmjow would find out what her real weight was or something. Women worry too much over crap like that.

"This isn't too bad." Kiorra pulled out something blue from the bag, her face brightening up instantly as she held it in front of her.

"Huh?" Grimmjow stared at her, stumped. He did a double take. "Wait. What?"

"This. I like it. So this is what I'm going to wear later?"

Grimmjow could not believe it. Was the woman daft or something? That thing was obviously not for women to wear. He took the blue item from her hands. "Actually, this is mine." He then pulled something red from the bag. "_This _is yours."

Kiorra looked at the thing he was holding up in horror. "That looks like underwear. You can't possibly be serious. I can't wear that in public!"

"What? You'd rather wear my swim trunks and show off your tits to the whole world instead of wearing a bikini?"

"I do NOT have breasts!" Right after the words left her mouth, she paled. And that was saying something, because she was already pale.

The Sexta gave her a strange look. "Kiorra, if those things that I see in front of my face aren't tits, then I don't know what they are." Grimmjow was getting tired of Kiorra's sometimes random outbursts of her "masculinity". This was why he preferred staying out her way when she was PMS-ing. Women going through that stage were just plain crazy. "Look, I would have bought you a one piece swimsuit, but they were all out of those. All they had left were bikinis. Just wear them."

She crossed her arms across her obviously female chest. "No."

"It'll help with making Kurosaki like you."

"No."

"Wear them."

"No."

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at her. "Kiorra Schiffer, you'd better fucking wear 'em or I'll _make_ you."

Kiorra narrowed her eyes and stared back at him defiantly. She took in a deep breath and let the word roll off of her tongue slowly, "No."

"Oh, that's it!" Grimmjow, bikini in hand, reached out to grab Kiorra, who squeaked and immediately jumped out of bed, desperate to avoid Grimmjow who was determined to get her to wear the bikini. "Kiorra!" Grimmjow growled in frustration. "I'm not playing here! It's nearly time to go, and you have to wear this!" He ran a hand through teal locks. "I'm giving you till three to come and get your butt here or I'll make you. One."

Kiorra took a step back.

"Two."

A few steps back.

"Three."

She bolted out of the room.

Grimmjow cursed under his breath. That woman was going to be the death of him. But hey. Grimmjow got up to his feet, a grin spreading across his handsome face as he cracked his knuckles. If she wanted to play hard to get (literally), then he was going to give it his best shot. She may be the Cuarta Espada, but she was also in a gigai which had the athletic ability of a normal woman, making her weaker and slower than Grimmjow. Which meant that she could run, but sooner or later, Grimmjow was going to catch her. The grin on his face grew wider. "You'd better be ready, Kiorra. Cos I don't give up easily."

* * *

"Oh, dear." An elegant looking woman at about the age of forty put down her teacup onto the coffee table as she looked around in worry. "What was that sound?"

Sounds of things being thrown about could be heard. Something that sounded awfully like glass broke. Following the sound of glass breaking was screeching and some foul language.

A man, presumably her husband, grunted, pointing up at the ceiling. "It's that young couple that came to stay in the room upstairs a few days ago." He did not seem disturbed at all by the amount of noise that was coming from the room above theirs.

More sounds of things being thrown about. One of the things must have hit their target, because they could hear the voice of the young man yelping out in pain. More foul language. More screaming and yelling. It sounded like a zoo up there. Or rather, a brawl between two prisoners in prison. Loud, rough and dangerous.

"I see." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "What do you suppose that they are doing then?" She hoped that they were not fighting. The man was tall, and handsome, and although he had the most strange hair colour (blue, of all things, could you imagine?), it suited him somehow. And the woman was just as gorgeous. She had the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen, the colour of emerald, and her skin was pale and smooth. Long raven hair framed that doll-like face, with a few strands falling across her eyes. They bickered a lot, but it was obviously done out of fondness, to tease one another. It was without a doubt that those two made such a lovely couple.

The sound of a body falling to the ground. A cry of victory, which they assumed came from the male.

"Doing what most horny young couples do. They screw each other senseless." Her husband opened the newspaper, determined to read the news, whether the occupants upstairs were screwing each other or not.

Scrambling. The sound of clothes being ripped.

"Are you quite sure about that?" The woman seemed to have regained her composure, because she was now back to sipping her cup of tea calmly.

Scratching. Moaning, and a couple of thumps could be heard. The "couple" upstairs were so rough that a fragment from the ceiling actually fell and landed on the woman's head.

"Positive."

Thump. Thump. Thump. Groans. Scratching on the surface of the floor.

The woman took the piece of fragment and threw it away. Looking up at the ceiling, a pained expression crossed her face. If they were indeed doing that in such a rough manner, she felt sorry for the young woman.

* * *

It was hard, and they had messed up their hotel room in the process, but Grimmjow had _finally_ managed to grab a hold of Kiorra. Damn, he never knew that she was going to be this difficult, but after a lot of yelling, fighting and throwing things at each other, she had finally given up. Grimmjow had his legs wrapped around her from behind, and his face was nestled in the crook of her neck, some of her raven hair pressed against his face. It was an awkward position, and Grimmjow could feel the heat rise up to his face when he caught sight of Kiorra's ripped up night gown lying on the floor, but he ignored the feeling and concentrated on the task at hand.

"You know, this would have been a heck of a lot easier if you were a bit more cooperative," Grimmjow grumbled as he tied the bikini behind Kiorra's back securely, his fingers accidentally brushing across her smooth back as he did so. The blush on Grimmjow's face intensified.

The doorbell rang.

"Housekeeping," came a voice outside the door.

Grimmjow could feel Kiorra stiffen in his arms. He could tell that she did not want anyone else to see her in this position, but by this time, he really could not care less. "Come in," Grimmjow said tiredly.

"_Grimmjow_!" Kiorra hissed, alarmed. She struggled, but this only made Grimmjow tighten his grip on her.

"Hey, sit still, will ya? I'm still trying to get this knot done. This is your fault for being so damned stubborn," Grimmjow snapped.

The door opened, revealing a woman dressed in the hotel's housekeeping's standard uniform. Her eyes widened at the mess that the entire room was in, and her eyes widened even more upon seeing Grimmjow and Kiorra sitting on the floor, his legs wrapped around her waist. What was even more surprising was that the raven haired woman was half naked, clad only in a bikini. "Oh, my. Am I interrupting something?"

Ignoring the woman's question, Grimmjow finished tying the bikini top. "Tch. There. Done." He let go of Kiorra abruptly as though touching her burned his skin.

Kiorra glared at Grimmjow out of the corner of her eye, an equally intense blush spread across her pale cheeks. "You didn't have to be so rough," she tried to say in an even voice. Kiorra got up to her feet, her back turned on Grimmjow.

It was a good thing that Grimmjow had managed to get her (okay, fine, _forced_ her) to wear the bottoms first, otherwise he would have been staring at a very naked backside.

That _was_ a good thing, right?

Unknown to Ulquiorra that Grimmjow was contemplating whether not seeing his naked backside was a good thing or not, Ulquiorra rubbed the sides of his arms. Wearing a bikini in an air-conditioned environment sure was chilly. This was, without a doubt, worse than the times he had to wear a dress and a miniskirt. Revealing as those were, Ulquiorra felt like he was naked wearing this. It was like he was in his underwear. How humans could call this swimwear, he did not know. To him, "bikini" was just a fancy name for another type of underwear.

Well, whatever to keep women from feeling embarrassed for parading around on a beach in their underwear.

It was an uncomfortable experience, wearing a bikini, but all in all, Ulquiorra was grateful that Grimmjow had kept his eyes shut after his night gown got ripped. At least the Sexta had a little respect towards women, even though he had practically forced Ulquiorra to wear the thing. Ulquiorra was also grateful that Grimmjow had shut his eyes, because he had managed to atleast give Grimmjow a black eye during their scuffle. Grimmjow, one; Ulquiorra, one.

Needless to say, Grimmjow was not happy with Ulquiorra punching him in the eye.

"And _you_ didn't have to punch me in the eye," Grimmjow complained.

Ulquiorra allowed himself a small smile when he saw Grimmjow reach up and cover his eye with his hand, cursing colourfully.

"Oh, sure, laugh it up, Kiorra," Grimmjow said moodily. He stood up, straightening out his clothes as he did so. "You go wear something to cover up. I'm going to change." He looked at Ulquiorra warningly. "And don't even think about changing out of that."

Minutes later, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra walked out of their hotel room, dressed and ready to go for the beach. Ulquiorra carefully avoided the gaze of the open mouthed housekeeper, another wave of pink spreading across his face. This was, without a doubt, one of the most embarrassing moments in his entire life as an arrancar.

* * *

"Where is this Kiorra chick that you've been yakking about?" Renji said, tapping his foot impatiently on the ground. "She sure is taking her time."

Ichigo glared at the red head. "I'm sure that she's just having trouble trying to find this place. She isn't a local, you know." He face palmed. "Damn it, I should have offered to pick her up."

"That's just like you, Kurosaki," Ishida sniffed. "For all we know, she could be imaginary."

"Agreed," Rukia piped in, smirking.

Seeing Ichigo turn red, a vein beginning to throb in his temple, Orihime said quickly, "Don't tease him. We all know from the pictures of her that she isn't imaginary." The smile on her face had a hint of sadness to it. "I'm sure Kiorra will come soon."

"Hey, Ichigo." Ishida pushed his glasses up his nose, pointing in front of them. "Isn't that her coming this way with that blue haired guy?"

Renji was stunned. "Whoa, what a babe."

"I know," Ichigo breathed, a smile lighting up his features instantly.

* * *

Did Ulquiorra just say that having one of the housekeepers see him in an extremely awkward position with Grimmjow embarrassing? He must have been high at that time, because that was nothing compared to _this_.

Ulquiorra was now at the beach, sitting under a beach umbrella with Kurosaki Ichigo, who had his arm wrapped around his waist. Ulquiorra bit his bottom lip. He had to try very hard not to tell the boy to keep his hands to himself. They had just arrived at the beach a few minutes ago, and Ichigo did not come alone. He had brought his friends Ishida Uryu, Abarai Renji, Inoue Orihime and Kuchiki Rukia. None of his friends were of any importance to him at the moment. Right now, Kurosaki was Ulquiorra's priority. So the Cuarta left Grimmjow to deal with the others. Who knows, maybe Grimmjow might even be able to get some sort of info out of his friends, though Ulquiorra highly doubted it.

The emerald eyed arrancar tried covering himself with his arm, self conscious. It was a perfect day for a day at the beach. The sun was up, and so was the tide. It was sunny, but not too hot. It was not very windy either. Everything was just right. Which made Ulquiorra hate it all the more. Because a perfect day at the beach meant that there were more people at the beach. Having more people at the beach meant having to see more women walking around confidently in their "not underwear" while he was self conscious in his. It also meant having to tolerate men sending perverted looks his way. He found that they were particularly interested in the two mounds of flesh on his chest.

Again, humans nowadays were weird.

"Don't do that, Kiorra."

"What?" Ulquiorra looked up to see Ichigo Kurosaki smiling down at him. "I don't understand."

Ichigo smiled gently. "You don't have to hide yourself, Kiorra," he said, gesturing at Ulquiorra's arm. "You're beautiful. Don't be shy. Be more confident."

"Ahh..." Ulquiorra was not sure what to say. What was he supposed to say? _Actually, it's not that I'm not confident or anything trivial like that, it's more like I'm NOT supposed to have a pair of tits or have to wear a bikini_?

"Here, if you're not comfortable in that, wear this." Ichigo pulled off the shirt he was wearing, revealing his tan, muscled body. He handed the shirt to Ulquiorra, who took it gratefully.

"T-Thank you," Ulquiorra murmured as he pulled the shirt on. He was slightly confused that such a kind gesture was coming from an enemy, but then he remembered that Ichigo did not know he was working for Aizen-sama. All the same, he did not know what to think, so Ulquiorra decided to ignore the feeling for now.

Thank goodness the Ryoka was not like most of the other male humans that he had encountered so far during his stay here in the human world, otherwise, Ulquiorra would surely have to, as Grimmjow had put it "spread his legs" for the boy. And knowing Ulquiorra's loyalty towards Aizen, he might just do it. Not without killing the boy afterwards, though. Ichigo may be his enemy, but Ulquiorra had to admit, after getting to know the boy for awhile, he almost felt bad for spying on him.

Almost.

Not far from them was an extremely unhappy Grimmjow. He was lying down on his stomach on a cloth that was spread out on the sand, his face set in a perpetual scowl as he rested his chin on his arms. Was he enjoying himself? No. Did he like having to come to this place and doing something as pointless as socializing with the Ryoka's friends when he could be slicing their heads off? No. Did he like listening to Miss Round Chest and Miss Flat Chest's endless conversation about the awesomeness that was Chappy? HELL NO. What the hell was Chappy anyways?

And then there were the Ryoka's male friends; Four Eyes and Pineapple Head. Four Eyes, otherwise known as Uryu Ishida, did not look as excited as the rest. In fact, the guy had his eyes glued to a book the entire time. Smart. Pineapple Head, his name was Abarai Renji, if Grimmjow was not mistaken, kept on trying to initiate a conversation with Grimmjow. Probably to make a good impression, for Ichigo's sake. The guy was okay, he supposed. Now, if only he did not choose to sit so close to Grimmjow, he'd be set.

The moment that Grimmjow had set eyes on all of Kurosaki's friends, he could immediately tell that he could take them all down in a second. Their reiatsu was nothing compared to his.

To be honest, Grimmjow did not really have to come. Ichigo may have invited them to go to the beach with him, but really, Grimmjow could tell that Ichigo only meant to invite Kiorra. He was only inviting Grimmjow out of politeness. It was not like their first encounter was a very pleasant one. But Kiorra insisted. And since she was boss of the operation, what with being the substitute Cuarta Espada and everything, Grimmjow had to follow her orders. And her orders were: make friends with Kurosaki's friends and try to get some info out of them.

Grimmjow groaned inwardly. He could tell that he was not going to have fun.

He had only known the boy's friends for nearly an hour and he could tell that they were not exactly going to be best friends. Sure, they were nice to him and everything, it was just that they did not _click_. Rukia (Miss Flat Chest), had actually given him and Kiorra a stuffed rabbit. Inoue (Miss Round Chest) had just smiled shyly and murmured a "hello" to him. Uryu and Renji shook his hand and greeted him politely. Grimmjow's interactions with all of them were awkward at best. There was no way he would be able to get anything out of any of them. Even their answers regarding Kurosaki were quite guarded. So far, the most friendly one was Renji.

"So," Renji began casually as he lay down next to Grimmjow, resting his head on his hand, "What do you do for a living?"

"Nothing. I'm still in college," Grimmjow answered.

"Have you been here before?"

"Nope. This is my first time here in Karakura."

"Do you travel a lot?"

"Sometimes."

"What do you think about Karakura, then?"

"It's... nice and peaceful."

"What's wrong with your eye?"

Man, this guy sure could talk.

Luckily, he and Kiorra had practically drilled every answer into their heads for every possible question that the Ryoka or his friends could ask them. In the human world, he and Kiorra were brother and sister on holiday. He was a college student studying engineering (haha. Laugh it up) whereas Kiorra was a high school student, the same age as Kurosaki. They were from Germany. Their mother was German and their father was French. They had two cats and a dog, and their family was well off.

"Hey," Renji said, a grin slowly spreading across his face.

"What?" Grimmjow said dully, flicking his gaze lazily over at the red head. The hell did this guy want now?

"Do you know that you have extremely beautiful eyes?"

* * *

Ulquiorra leaned against Kurosaki's shoulder, playing with his fingers as he did so. The Cuarta sighed. He looked around his surroundings lazily, taking everything in. There were many teenagers here today. Some were playing in the water, some were playing volleyball, some were sunbathing. He also noticed two men arguing with each other. One had a large camera in his hand while the other was on the phone, alternating between yelling into the phone and then at the guy next to him. Closing his eyes, the Cuarta sighed once more.

"Something wrong, Kiorra?" Ichigo asked, noticing how fidgety he was.

"Oh no, there's nothing wrong." Ulquiorra smiled.

"Alright." The orange haired teen pressed his lips against Ulquiorra's forehead. "If there's anything wrong, don't hesitate to tell me."

"Of course." Another smile.

This was absolutely disgusting and unacceptable. To get information from the boy, he had to act like a smitten woman. Ulquiorra wrinkled his nose. This was so wrong on so many levels. He did not like doing this, but if it was to fulfil Aizen-sama's orders, then so be it. Well, might as well start flirting with the boy again.

The Cuarta Espada snuggled closer to Ichigo in a way that he hoped Ichigo found endearing, or else he would have been doing this for nothing. The boy was quite attractive, he had to admit that, but he did not feel attracted to this boy at all, so he was not quite sure how to act around him. But whatever he was doing, he must have been doing something right, because Kurosaki tightened his grip on Ulquiorra's tiny waist and leaned down in such a way that his nose was nestled in Ulquiorra's hair, slowly taking in the Cuarta's scent. He seemed to be enjoying the moment.

_Oh my God this is so gay._

Ichigo must have noticed Ulquiorra stiffen in his arms, because he looked down at Ulquiorra in concern. "Are you alright, Kiorra?"

"Oh, no, it's nothing," Ulquiorra put on a feminine laugh.

_Get a grip of yourself, Ulquiorra. This is just like any other mission. _

"So, Ichigo..." Ulquiorra made sure to lean forward so that Ichigo could get a nice view of his... generous chest. Ichigo's shirt that Ulquiorra was wearing was quite big, so when he leaned forward, his chest could be seen. Ichigo instantly turned as red as a tomato at the sight that was being presented to him. He had a very hard time keeping his gaze focused on Ulquiorra's face. Ulquiorra could practically see the boy sweating. Well, since his earlier flirting tactics during their first date did not work, Ulquiorra had to pull out the big guns now. "You still haven't told me about your other hobbies."

Ichigo swallowed. "Why are you so interested to know?" he said nervously.

"Is it so wrong that I want to know more about you?" Ulquiorra traced Ichigo's chest with his finger, dragging his finger slowly and seductively across that taut skin.

"Ahh..." Ichigo was not sure what to do. Ulquiorra was sure that if they were not in public, the boy would have yelled out. He did not seem used to such attention. But there was a small part of the boy that liked this. Ulquiorra could tell from the feel of the boy's reiatsu. Ichigo was getting excited, no matter how much he wanted to deny it. "Kiorra..."

Maybe he should try calling the boy by that name that large breasted woman called him. That woman seemed to be quite taken with the boy.

Slowly, the raven haired arrancar dragged his finger up Ichigo's neck, along his jaw line and finally tucked it under the boy's chin. If the boy wanted to make things difficult, then he was going to make things difficult for Ichigo as well. Ulquiorra lifted up his eyes to Ichigo's warm brown ones, putting on the most adorable face that he could muster, complete with sparkly eyes and pouting lips. "I just want to know more about you, _Kurosaki-kun_..."

"Ehhh? What did you just call me?" If possible, Ichigo turned an even darker shade of red.

Just a bit more...

"Kurosaki-kun..."

Ichigo was sweating buckets now. If the boy was a lesser man, he would have thrown Ulquiorra to the ground and fucked him senseless. Luckily for Ulquiorra though, Ichigo was made of stronger stuff than that. So, being the man that he was, Ichigo resisted his primal urge to simply dominate Ulquiorra. "Kiorra, I..."

The boy looked like he was about to crack. Just a bit more and he may be able to get something out of Ichigo.

"Excuse me, sir, may we speak with you and your girl friend?"

Ulquiorra snapped his eyes towards the source of the voice. Damn it! He was so close to getting Kurosaki, too! The raven haired arrancar narrowed his eyes at the two men in front of them. It was the two men that he had seen arguing with each other just now. What on earth did they want?

"Yes?" Ichigo said curiously, relieved to be saved from Ulquiorra's questions.

"My name is Gabriel Michaelis." The man that Ulquiorra recognized as the one who had yelled into the phone took a step forward, his hand grabbing Ichigo's in a firm handshake. "And my partner here, his name is Yosuke Kobayashi." Gabriel nodded at Yosuke, who offered them a friendly smile. "We're photographers and we work for _Teen Magazine_. The models that we were supposed to work with have cancelled last minute on us and we don't have anyone else to model for us. So we were wondering if you and your girl friend could model for us?"

"Uhhh..."

"We will pay you, of course," Gabriel said quickly. "Here. You can have our card." He pulled a card out of his wallet and handed it to Ichigo, who examined it closely.

Once he was sure that they were legit, Ichigo turned to look at Ulquiorra. "What do you think, Kiorra? I'm game if you are."

No, Ulquiorra was most certainly NOT game to model for some stupid human magazine.

"But, Kurosaki-kun, we were just getting to know each other..." Ulquiorra said softly.

A blush spread across Ichigo's features. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, but no words came out. What came out instead were "ohhs" and "ahhs". There was no doubt about it; Ichigo was flustered. The longer he looked at Ulquiorra, the deeper the blush on his face became. Just when Ulquiorra thought Ichigo was about to crack, the Ryoka turned back to the men and said, "Of course we'll model for you!"

EHH??

WHAT? HELL NO!

Ulquiorra nearly had a heart attack then and there, but managed to maintain his composure. He was not about to pose like a sex kitten for these two strange men, thank you very much.

Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes.

Damn it. Smart move. The boy sure knew how to avoid the subject.

And so began the modelling. It turned out that the magazine wanted the photographers to take pictures for a beach fashion spread, and that having one male and one female model was essential to the spread. Ulquiorra watched as the two men set up their equipment quickly, as though scared that Ichigo would change his mind. They even called the rest of their crew to come in and do Ulquiorra and Ichigo's make up. Ichigo could tell that Ulquiorra was not pleased with how he handled the situation, which was why he kept his gaze away from Ulquiorra. When the men started giving them different swimwear and beach clothes to change into for each shoot, and telling them to get into certain poses, they did what they were told. Ulquiorra slid onto Ichigo's lap, and wrapped his arms around the boy's neck. They were too close for comfort, but that was the price you had to pay for being a loyal follower of Aizen-sama.

"It's okay if you don't want to open up to me now," Ulquiorra whispered into the orange haired teen's ear, his breath tickling the boy's skin, before turning to face the camera. He let his fingers curl into orange locks. "I can wait."

Ichigo smiled and held Ulquiorra closer in response.

_Just you wait. I'm going to get you yet._

* * *

While they were on break, Ulquiorra excused himself and went into the restroom, where he flipped open the special cell phone that Aizen-sama had provided them with. After dialling in the appropriate number, Ulquiorra pressed the gadget to his ear. He was sick of being a woman. He wanted out of this. Dresses, period, miniskirts, bikinis... He did not know how much more he could take. He needed to know how much longer he had to bear with this.

His call was answered at the fifth beep.

"Hello?" came Szayel's voice.

"Szayel," Ulquiorra hissed into the cell phone. "It's Ulquiorra."

"Ahhh, Ulquiorra. I assume you want to know about my progress on coming up with a cure for your condition?"

"Of course. How much longer is this going to take?"

"I can't say, Ulquiorra... I'm about seventy percent done. It should be done soon, but even then, I can't give it to you immediately. I'll need to do some testing and-"

Ulquiorra sighed. "Okay, Szayel. I get it. I'll wait." And he hung up.

The Cuarta leaned against the wall, eyes closed, taking in calm, even breaths, preparing himself to get back out there again. It looked like he had to just hang in there.

* * *

Grimmjow was fuming. No, fuming was an understatement. Grimmjow was furious. He had to try very hard not to let his reiatsu spike and react the same way as his mood so as to not alert the Ryoka and his friends of his true identity. The Sexta glowered at the way Kurosaki was holding Kiorra, and the way those two men were making her do various poses around and with Ichigo as they took picture after picture. The hell?

"Wow, are you okay, man? You look pretty steamed," Renji commented.

"Hn."

Why the hell was Kurosaki holding her that way? Like as if she was something precious. The fucktard barely even knew her! But most of all, why the hell was Kiorra allowing herself to be touched by Kurosaki? Not that he cared, really. Kiorra could do whatever the fucking hell she wanted for all Grimmjow cared.

"You look tense too." Renji drew closer. "Relax."

"Hn."

It was just that. Grimmjow narrowed his eyes when he saw Kurosaki hug Kiorra from behind. From the looks of the way Grimmjow's mood was going, it would be no surprise if he suddenly burst into flames. It was just that how could the Cuarta Espada let herself be touched by common... trash? By a fucking human, no less. That was so wrong.

"Here. I'll help massage you. The muscles in your shoulders look tense."

"Hn."

Normally, Grimmjow would have just ceroed anyone who would dare offer something like that to him, but right now, he was too occupied in his own thoughts to take in what was happening around him. Even when Renji's hands were on his shoulders, massaging them, he did not notice. Kurosaki was now giving Kiorra a kiss on the cheek for another shot. Grimmjow could feel his eye twitch. He swore, if that boy was not careful or even thought about harming Kiorra, he was going to bury Kurosaki alive.

"I don't get women," Grimmjow said loudly.

"Ha ha. Same here. Women are so complicated," the red haired man agreed, continuing to massage Grimmjow's shoulders. "By the way, are you single?"

"Yeah, what about it?" Sapphire eyes were still fixated on the scene before him. Kurosaki was now carrying Kiorra in his arms. Bridal style. This only made the burning flame of fury in Grimmjow turn bigger. It irked him to see them look so happy. The boy was smiling, his eyes bright and his expression one of joy. Kurosaki should not be happy conversing and flirting with the enemy! He should not be touching Kiorra in the first place. The stupid boy should know his place. "Tch. Women suck. I'd rather spend time with men anyways," Grimmjow said bitterly, not even noticing how his words sounded to Renji's ears.

"Oh really?" Renji said hopefully.

"Yeah. I suppose."

Kiorra was another one. She should not be happy spending so much time with the enemy. Why was she smiling along with Kurosaki anyways? Grimmjow did not understand. Why couldn't they just kill the boy and be done with it instead of spying on him? Spying takes a much longer time. Killing the boy would just take a second. Once again so lost in his thoughts and swirling emotions that Grimmjow did not even notice when Renji's hands started moving lower, lower than what he should have been comfortable with.

* * *

**ART:** More art on Kiorra, by Susikicks and Lili-stein. Give them some love! Link available on my profile.

**A/N:** Wow, this fic hasn't been updated for awhile. Hiatus sucks, ne? I may have to go on another one after I update _Lessons In Love_. I've been really busy with college. I actually had to drop out of the _Bleach Romance Writing Contest_ cos of the amount of work I had. I hope this hasn't caused me to lose readers DX Reviews are appreciated.


	7. Double Date

Ichigo Kurosaki crossed out yet another sentence he had just written. Trying to do his homework with Abarai Renji in his room was not an easy thing to do. The red haired shinigami just could not stop talking, and it was distracting Ichigo from his work. Even yelling at the man to shut up did not work, so Ichigo just gave up and tried to do his best to concentrate. It was quiet right now, but Ichigo knew that this would not last for long.

"Damn, Ichigo. It just ain't fair," Renji huffed, breaking the silence.

See?

"What isn't fair?" Ichigo asked dully. He did not even look up from his homework; he was too busy trying to write the damned essay that his teacher had just given him.

Renji rolled onto his stomach on Ichigo's bed and then propped himself up using his elbows, his chin on his hands as he stared at the back of Ichigo's head. "You get to meet that beauty everyday and I only get to hear about it from you," he complained.

"You mean Kiorra?"

Renji made a face. "No, you idiot. I mean her brother, Grimmjow."

Ichigo turned around then. "Grimmjow?" he said in disbelief.

"Yeah." Renji nodded. "He's so sexy. It ain't fair that you're the only one who gets to see him every day."

"Okay..." Ichigo said, slightly disturbed. "Right..."

"Come on, man! I'm serious. Have you even looked at him? Or his abs for that matter? He's a friggin' sex bomb."

"Whatever you say, Renji." Ichigo narrowed escaped the pillow that his red haired friend threw his way.

"Hey, that ain't fair, Ichigo!"

"Fine, fine." The orange haired teen raised his hands in surrender in an attempt to cool down his miffed friend. And though it made him feel incredibly gay for saying it, he added, "He's sexy, I get it. Geez. No need to get so worked up."

Ichigo scratched the back of his neck, exhaling softly. Honestly, he could see what Renji meant about Grimmjow being attractive, but the man kept looking at him as though he wanted to murder Ichigo. Especially whenever Ichigo was anywhere near Kiorra. If he had a choice, he would prefer not having to see that man again. One could easily tell that him and Grimmjow were not on the best of terms, though Ichigo always tried to keep it cool. It would not do to fight with Kiorra's brother. Turning back to his homework, Ichigo continued writing. "If it means that much to you, I'll give Kiorra a call."

Renji grinned. "Fuck yeah!"

* * *

Grimmjow yawned as he walked into their room with a towel around his neck, his hair still slightly wet from the shower he had earlier. He rubbed his eye, the eye that Kiorra had punched and given him a black eye last time. It took a few days, but the mark was gone now, which was a good thing. He frowned when he caught sight of Kiorra primping herself in front of the mirror. It was a normal sight to see nowadays, but Grimmjow asked the same question he asked her every day whenever he saw her making an attempt to dress up anyway.

"The hell are you doing?" Grimmjow questioned. "Are you going out with that carrot top again?"

"You already know the answer to that, so stop asking, Grimmjow," Kiorra replied as she applied a light layer of pink lipstick on her lips. She made a face when she saw her reflection, as though she did not like how feminine she looked. "It's not like I like to do this. Or even want to do this."

"And yet you still do it!" Grimmjow interjected.

"Only because it's Aizen-sama order."

"Fine," the blue haired arrancar grumbled. When his comrade did not speak, Grimmjow asked, "Where the hell are the two of you going this time?"

"We're just going to have dinner."

"Huh."

He regarded her for a second, looking at how her red dress hugged her figure, and how she was so focused on applying her make-up. Now that she knew she was going to be expected to take care of her appearance for the mission, she has slowly gotten used to wearing make-up and dressing up. She now does all of that by herself though she still hates it. At least now Grimmjow did not need to chase her around in order to make her wear anything remotely feminine.

Grimmjow stretched his arms over his head before plopping himself onto the bed. Kiorra has been going out with that Kurosaki a lot nowadays, so it was not a surprise to see her getting ready for a date. He supposed that it was good that Kurosaki was very taken to her, but he could not help punching that orange haired teen's face whenever he saw him. Heh. Probably because Ichigo Kurosaki was their enemy. And because he was a worthless brat. He just hoped that Kiorra would not get too involved with or attached to Kurosaki. It would only make their mission complicated. Women were more likely to get too emotionally involved, in his opinion.

"Well, time to get going." Kiorra's voice cut into Grimmjow's train of thought.

"Yeah, whatever."

Kiorra raised an eyebrow, amused with the Sexta's childish behaviour. She grabbed a nice, clean shirt and a pair of jeans and walked towards the bed before throwing the clothes at Grimmjow's face.

"OW! What the fuck, woman??" Grimmjow snarled, snatching the clothes off of his face. He sat up, glaring at her. "Why did you do that?"

"Get dressed," she said calmly.

"Huh?" Grimmjow blinked at her stupidly, his anger forgotten. "The hell you're talking about? I'm already dressed."

"You're in your pyjamas. You need to wear something else since you're coming as well." When Grimmjow continued to look confused, Kiorra went on to say, "You're coming along with us on our date. So hurry up and get ready."

* * *

It was official.

Grimmjow hated Kiorra Schiffer. The dumb bitch.

"Kiorra, you look beautiful."

"Oh, stop it, Ichigo!" A giggle.

"No, really. You look great like this."

"You're such a sweet talker." A flutter of eyelashes.

"No, I'm telling you the truth."

"Well, when you put it that way, I believe you."

A kiss against Kiorra's forehead.

Grimmjow was in hell. His ears were practically bleeding.

The teal haired arrancar silently seethed in his seat, which was right next to Ichigo Kurosaki's friend, who was none other than Abarai Renji. Grimmjow had not seen the guy since that day at the beach. Though Renji was really nice to him, Grimmjow was not in the mood to talk to anyone. Seeing that Kurosaki going all mushy at the sight of seeing his beloved Kiorra was making Grimmjow want to gag. And the fact that Renji was sitting way too close to Grimmjow did not help lighten his mood at all. He was so close that their arms practically touched.

"Hey, man, don't go hogging up all the space," Grimmjow complained.

"Oh, sorry," the red haired man said, though he did not look sorry at all, nor did he move away to make space for Grimmjow.

"Tch."

Choosing not to pursue the subject, the Sexta looked at Kiorra and Ichigo who were sitting directly in front of them, and then scowled.

Kurosaki was currently spoon feeding Kiorra, like as if she could not do that by herself. Kiorra, putting on her usual submissive girlfriend act, took a bite of the jelly Kurosaki presented to her. Grimmjow's eye twitched. Since the date began, he was somehow paired off with Renji for reasons beyond his understanding. Kurosaki said that it was a "double date" or something like that. Grimmjow did not see why it was called a double date when Renji was clearly not interested in him. Were Kiorra and Ichigo trying to play matchmaker? If they were, they were failing at it. Hah. The idiots. Abarai Renji was so not gay. At least, not for Grimmjow.

Grimmjow looked down at his empty plate. He had just finished his food a few minutes ago, and he was now waiting for the "couple" to stop the lovey dovey talk so that they could pay up and leave. The fact that Ichigo Kurosaki was so smitten with Kiorra was so obvious in the way he spoke and looked at Kiorra. It sickened Grimmjow. How he wished he could smack the guy upside the head. Loser. What amazed Grimmjow was that Kiorra could actually tolerate this behaviour and even reciprocate it.

Okay, fine, _pretend_ to reciprocate it, but still.

"Grimmjow, are you alright? You've been staring off into... space for awhile now." What Ichigo meant to say was "You've been glaring at us for the past ten minutes now and it's creeping me out, so stop it" but decided not to anger Kiorra's brother. He did not want to make a bad impression. Or lose an eye for that matter.

"Huh?" Grimmjow snapped to attention. When his vision landed on the orange haired teen, Grimmjow attempted to smile. It was a very forced smile. "Of course I'm okay. In fact-" Grimmjow grabbed a fork and stabbed a bowl that was still half full of salad with it, the fork standing right in the middle. He smiled pleasantly at Ichigo "-I'm just dandy."

Kiorra widened her eyes at Grimmjow warningly. She mouthed the words "What the hell are you doing?" to him, but the teal haired arrancar ignored her. Instead, he placed his chin on the palm his hand and drawled, "So, how're you doing, Ichi? You look kinda pale."

"Ehehe." Sweatdrop. Spotting a waiter, Ichigo immediately called out, "Check, please."

About damned time.

Kiorra glared at Grimmjow. He continued to ignore her.

As soon as they paid for their food, Grimmjow was out of the restaurant so quickly that he was the first one in their group out. He could not wait to go home. This was the most pointless thing he has ever had to do, and the only reason he did it was for Kiorra. And for Ichigo too, in a way, which really sucked. The teal haired arrancar took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He has been in a bad mood since their "double date" began. The only consolation he had was that Renji probably thought that this matchmaking idea that Ichigo and Kiorra had was a huge, steaming pile of shit as well.

Come on. Him and Renji? Were those two blind, or something?

When the other three finally came out of the restaurant, Grimmjow thought that they were finally going to go back, that this stupid "double date" was over. But no, Ichigo suggested that they take a walk in the park before they went back.

Asshole.

So now here he was, walking in the park, trailing behind Kiorra and Ichigo with Renji by his side. The red haired man kept on talking about every subject under the moon, but Grimmjow did not pay much attention to him. He was too busy looking at the way that Ichigo wrapped his arm around Kiorra's waist, and the way Kiorra leaned against Ichigo's shoulder as though enjoying that little act of affection. Kiorra was angry, Grimmjow could tell. Though she did not say anything, she has been avoiding his gaze since they left the restaurant, pointedly ignoring him by talking and looking at Ichigo only. Should their eyes ever meet, Kiorra would immediately look away and talk to Ichigo. Tch.

Exhaling softly, Grimmjow looked up at the sky. Silver stars set against a black blanket of sky twinkled right back at him. Aside from Abarai Renji's constant chattering, it really was quiet here. The park was practically empty, with them being the only ones there. There was a light breeze, making it a bit chilly for them to be out, but Grimmjow did not mind it that much.

"Grimmjow, did you hear what I just said?" Renji said, irritated.

"Huh? What?" Grimmjow snapped out of his thoughts. "Sorry, Renji. I was just thinking."

"Oh? Something on your mind?"

"... Yeah."

Noticing the unhappy expression on Grimmjow's face, Renji thumped him on the back and then wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, don't worry about it." He laughed. "You shouldn't be thinking too much. You've been tense since the date began."

"Yeah..." Sapphire eyes looked over at Kiorra and Ichigo. "It's nothing, really."

The red haired man noticed where Grimmjow was looking, and chuckled. "Is it about Kiorra? If you're worried about Ichigo, don't worry about it." He gave Grimmjow's shoulder a squeeze, bringing him closer to Renji. "Ichigo is a good kid. A bit stupid, yeah, but he's harmless. He won't do anything wrong to Kiorra."

"I guess..." he said doubtfully.

Well, Ichigo doing something bad to Kiorra was part of Grimmjow's worries, but how come he did not feel any better after hearing Renji's testimonial?

"Anyway... What do you think of Kiorra and Ichigo? Think they'll work out?" Renji asked.

"Kiorra and Ichigo?" Grimmjow repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Heck no," he scoffed. "There's no way those two would last. Just look at them! They're not suited for each other."

Renji just laughed.

"What's so funny?" Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at Renji.

"Well, if I didn't know that you're her brother, I'd say that you're jealous." Renji tried to stifle another laugh. At the disgusted look on Grimmjow's face, Renji added, "Personally, I think that they make a really cute couple. But since you are her brother, I know that it's just you being protective."

"Damn straight!" Grimmjow said, though it felt odd saying it. Since he was not Kiorra's brother, heck, not even related to her in any way, he could not say that he was protective over her in a brotherly way, right? It was a different kind of protective, but what kind, he did not know.

"So," Renji began, leaning so close to Grimmjow that his warm breath played against the exposed part of Grimmjow's neck. "What do you think about us?"

Grimmjow gave him a look. "Ha ha, very funny," Grimmjow said dully.

"You wound me deeply, Grimmjow." Renji closed his hand over his heart and feigned being hurt.

The Sexta rolled his eyes. "Baka. And why are you holding my hand?" he demanded, raising their hands to show Renji. Renji had let go of Grimmjow's shoulders in favour for intertwining his fingers with Grimmjow's. "This is embarrassing. We look like a damned couple."

"It's because I'm cold," Renji complained.

"Because you're cold you hold a grown man's hand? Put your hands in your pockets!"

"I'm_ really_ cold."

"Oh for the love of- Let go of my hand you-"

Ulquiorra rolled his eyes when he heard Grimmjow and Renji bicker behind them. Honestly, those two were like children. And Grimmjow was so oblivious to the fact that Renji was so into him. Ulquiorra sighed, getting angry over the thought of Grimmjow. What was Grimmjow thinking? He knew that Grimmjow was always gruff and did not really like him, but he seemed more moody than usual nowadays. And just when he thought that their relationship was making progress. There were times when Ulquiorra was able to joke with him, but most of the time, whenever Ichigo was around or even mentioned, Grimmjow's mood would sour. Did he really hate the substitute shinigami that much?

Even if he hated Ichigo, he did not need to act like such an ass just now during dinner. Grimmjow kept on glaring at Ichigo throughout dinner and kept making rude comments. Ulquiorra had kicked him several times under the table for being rude, but after the first few times, Grimmjow learned his lesson and kept his feet away from kicking distance. Ulquiorra was almost tempted to throw his drink in Grimmjow's face. If that man was not careful, he was going to singlehandedly ruin their mission.

"Hey," Ichigo said gently, playing with Ulquiorra's raven hair. "What're you thinking about?"

"Hm? Nothing particularly important," Ulquiorra said absently. "Though I must say that those two are quite noisy. Do you think that it was a good idea pairing them up?"

"Yeah... I've been having some doubts about that." Ichigo looked back at the pair behind them. They were still bickering, and in quite a comical fashion, too. Grimmjow was trying to pull his hand away from Renji, but Renji just kept holding on, even going as far as pulling Grimmjow right back. Ichigo shook his head. Though he did not really like Grimmjow, he felt a bit bad for him. The poor, oblivious bastard had absolutely no idea that Renji was playfully flirting with him. The look of annoyance on Grimmjow's face was enough proof of this. "Just let them be. I'm pretty sure that Renji will lose interest one of these days."

"Hm." Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes, wishing that Renji's wrist would snap when Grimmjow tried to pull his hand away once more.

In the first place, Ulquiorra did not want to pair Grimmjow up with Renji, but since Ichigo requested it, and since he wanted to maintain their good relationship, he agreed. Trying to prevent Grimmjow from escaping from their double date proved to be quite taxing, but he managed to make Grimmjow stay put till Ichigo and Renji arrived, which meant that Grimmjow's chance to escape had gone. Even though Ulquiorra was annoyed with Grimmjow for being rude to Ichigo, he was glad that Grimmjow had absolutely no interest in Ichigo's friend.

Ulquiorra glanced at Ichigo. Though they were getting closer by the day, so far, he has not been able to uncover any useful information on the boy. Ichigo was as secretive as always. He was a tough nut to crack. But no matter. It was all just a matter of time. Ulquiorra watched as Ichigo raised his hand and took a look at his watch. Brown eyes widened.

"Ah, damn!" Ichigo suddenly swore.

"What?"

"It's about time for me to go home," Ichigo said apologetically, showing Ulquiorra his watch. It was 10 PM. "Curfew," he said sheepishly.

"Ah," Ulquiorra said understandingly. They had stopped walking and were now facing each other, the breeze blowing at their hair lightly. "So I guess this is goodbye?"

"Yeah," the orange haired teen murmured.

Ichigo reached up then, and cupped a pale cheek, his other hand on Ulquiorra's waist. Ulquiorra shivered at his touch and immediately closed his eyes, knowing exactly what was coming. He did not shrink away, though, when he felt Ichigo's warm breath fan against his lips. They have shared many kisses before, but Ichigo never went too far, always planting a chaste kiss against Ulquiorra's lips. The most Ichigo ever did was gently bite or suck Ulquiorra's bottom lip. But that did not seem to be the case this time, though, because he felt something wet and warm brush against his lips.

Ulquiorra's brain froze. He was so surprised that he gasped, allowing Ichigo's tongue entrance.

"Ahh..."

Holy sh-

* * *

"Dude, look," Renji said excitedly, nudging Grimmjow. He pointed in front of him. The red haired man guffawed. "Nice!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Grimmjow snapped, irritated. He had finally managed to wrench his hand away from Renji's. The man was too playful for his own good. "And will you stop laughing like an idiot?"

"No, Grimmjow. Look! It looks like Ichigo and Kiorra are finally official, eh?"

"What?" Grimmjow looked at the spot that Renji was pointing at, and spotted Ichigo and Kiorra under a tree. It was quite difficult to see since shadows covered them, so Grimmjow actually had to peer to see what was going on. They were standing surprisingly close to each other. More close than usual, in fact. "What are they-" He took a step back. His eyes widened when he realised what they were doing. "They're..."

"Yup." Renji nodded happily. "I'm happy for 'em. They make such a cute couple."

Grimmjow's heart fell.

When Grimmjow did not respond, Renji waved a hand in front of his face. "Yo, you listening to me?" Nothing. "Grimmjow, I'm talking to you here-"

"Renji."

"So what do you think of-"

"Renji..."

"Kiorra and Ichigo?"

"Renji, now is not the time," Grimmjow said warningly.

Seeing the look on the teal haired man's face and the way he was glaring daggers at Ichigo and Kiorra, Renji took the hint and backed away slowly. He had a feeling that this was not going to turn out well.

Grimmjow balled his hands into fists.

Ichigo and Kiorra were kissing.

If Grimmjow was moody and irritable just now, he was positively _livid_ right now.

Furious, Grimmjow stalked towards the "couple" and grabbed at Kiorra's shoulder, making her turn around and face him. She stared up at him in surprise, and so did Kurosaki. They did not expect to be interrupted. The scowl on the Sexta's face deepened. "We're going home, Kiorra. Now."

"B-but-"

"Now."

Ichigo stepped forward then. "Grimmjow, there's no need to be-" he began.

Grimmjow gave him such a glare that the words died in Ichigo's mouth. Once he was sure that Ichigo would not butt in again, Grimmjow dragged Kiorra away from the orange haired teen. Kiorra looked back at a stunned Ichigo apologetically. Grimmjow did not even look back, not even when he walked past Renji, not even once they were out of the park.

* * *

Aizen rolled the bottle of pills that Szayel Aporro Grantz had just given him a few hours ago between his fingers. He could see that Ichimaru was still sulking in the corner. He absolutely refused to look and talk to Aizen. Aizen raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. It was not often that he was able to see Gin angry or annoyed in any way. He did not blame him, though. After all, he has been bugging Ichimaru to consume some of the pills that Ulquiorra had accidentally taken. But of course, Ichimaru absolutely refused. The brown haired man sighed. What a pity.

Ichimaru would have looked lovely with a set of breasts.

Now, while he and Ichimaru were not an item, he would still love to see how the man looked as a female. Especially since Ichimaru has quite feminine features and a slim body...

"You. Stop staring at me like that," Gin said unhappily.

"But you'll look lovely as a wo-"

"No, I will not. Just drop it. I ain't gonna do it."

He did not like the look on Aizen's face, nor did he like being told that he would look lovely as a woman. Gin was a man for crying out loud. Why couldn't Sosuke go and stare at Harribel's breasts? Not only is she a female, she has a pair of big ones. The silver haired man cursed colourfully under his breath. He wished Ulquiorra was here. At least then Aizen would be able to place his perverted expectations on him.

Aizen was about to make a response to Ichimaru's refusal when the cell phone in his pocket suddenly rang. Ah. It must be either Grimmjow or Ulquiorra calling in to make a report on their progress. The man took the gadget out of his pocket calmly, confirmed his suspicions when he saw the name that flashed across the little screen, and pressed the cell phone against his ear.

"Why, hello, Grimmjow," Aizen said pleasantly. "How are you? How is... Kiorra?"

"Fine," came Grimmjow's reply.

Aizen raised an eyebrow. From Grimmjow's tone, it seemed like the teal haired arrancar was not in a good mood. However, he chose to ignore it. "So, what you do have to report? How's Kiorra's progress with the Ryoka?"

"Progress? Oh, there's progress, alright," Grimmjow replied bitterly. He was not happy at all. Now, Aizen was certain of that.

Aizen waited for Grimmjow to continue, but the Sexta kept silent. Finally, unable to wait anymore, Aizen pressed Grimmjow, "Well?" A pause. "Would you care to elaborate?" Oh, he regretted asking that question, because the next thing he knew, he was suddenly blasted with Grimmjow's ranting.

"Those two were practically sucking each other's face off just now! It was disgusting, I-"

Did Aizen just hear that right?

"... Sucking each other's face off?" Aizen repeated, feeling strangely aroused at the idea.

"Damned straight!" the Sexta exclaimed. "It was disgusting! It ain't right. I know Kiorra is supposed to get information from Kurosaki, but does she really need to go that far? I-"

"Grimmjow."

"I mean I just ate. What do you think I felt when I saw _Ulquiorra's cousin _play tongue hockey with the enemy? It-"

Aizen rubbed his temple. "Grimmjow."

"I nearly threw up my dinner! Don't those two have any decency? And what was Kiorra thinking anyway? Does she NOT have any standards? Next thing I know, she could be flashing him her titties-"

"_Grimmjow_."

"What??" Grimmjow said, annoyed at being interrupted from his tirade.

"Did you take a picture of those two kissing?"

"Huh?"

"Did you take a picture of those two kissing?" Aizen repeated his question calmly.

"What? Hell no! Why should I do that? That is fucking sick-"

"Well, then. I suggest that you do. And please, once you take pictures of them doing that, develop the pictures and then give them to me."

"Huh?"

"And if you could persuade Kiorra to do more than kiss Kurosaki, please try to capture that on camera as well." Aizen thought for awhile, and then added, "However, a video would be preferred."

"... Wait. WHAT?"

"Goodbye, Grimmjow. Till next time." And with that, Aizen ended the call. If Grimmjow could rant about the boy and Ulquiorra's progress towards... physical intimacy, then the arrancar obviously did not have any groundbreaking news to give to him. When he looked up, he saw Ichimaru shaking his head at him. "What?" he said innocently.

"You are one horny bastard, you know that, Sosuke?" Ichimaru commented, sighing.

Aizen smiled. "Why, I don't know what you're talking about."

Ichimaru snorted. "Right." When he caught sight of Aizen pulling out the bottle of pills again, Ichimaru glared. "Even if you ask, the answer is still no."

Aww, damn.

* * *

Needless to say, their walk back to their hotel room was not a nice one. Grimmjow had absolutely refused to look at Ulquiorra, and he did not let go of Ulquiorra's hand either, dragging him along. And Ulquiorra, though angry, knew that it would not be wise to start a fight right out there in the open, hence chose to be quiet and to follow. He could not deny the fact that he felt like hitting Grimmjow right then and there for being such a jerk, though he felt a bit grateful for being saved from that kiss. He shuddered at the thought.

Even once they reached their hotel room, Grimmjow still refused to look at Ulquiorra, choosing to slam the door and lock himself up in the bedroom. He must have talked to Aizen-sama on the phone because Ulquiorra could hear him yelling like he was talking to someone. He could feel the heat rush up to his face when he heard the things that Grimmjow said. From what he gathered, Grimmjow did not think that he,_ Kiorra_, was not acting appropriately. He balled his hands into fists.

When Grimmjow's conversation with Aizen-sama obviously ended, Grimmjow flipped the cell phone close and threw it onto the bed furiously. Shit. Of course that bastard did not share his view on how Kiorra should be protecting her virtue more. That Aizen was a pervert, after all. Looking at the door, he was reminded of the fact that Kiorra was still outside, probably fuming, too. He was really not in the mood to talk to her.

"Fuck this," Grimmjow grumbled moodily, walking towards the door.

He was going to have to talk to her sooner or later. Angry as he was, he was not going to make Kiorra sleep on the couch. He was better than that. The Sexta yanked the door open, prepared for the worst, and he was immediately met with an angry Kiorra. She was practically glaring daggers at him, her fists clenching and unclenching as she tried to control her anger. Raising an eyebrow, Grimmjow said, "Got a problem?"

"You," she said dangerously, poking a finger at his chest. "What were you thinking?"

"Hey, don't do that!" he growled, but she ignored him.

"What, exactly, is WRONG with you, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques??" Kiorra's eyes flashed. "You've been ruder than usual. Why is it you can force me to do stuff for this mission like going out shopping, but when I ask you to do this one simple thing-" She stabbed her finger at his chest once more. "You-"

"Stop doing that!"

"You nearly ruined the mission with your childishness! What is wrong with you? Do you really hate Kurosaki that much?"

"Damn it, I told you to stop that!" Grimmjow snatched at her wrist, pulling it away from his chest. "You're the one who has been getting sidetracked from the mission, what with your constant doting over the Ryoka! Next thing I know, you'll probably run off with him and forget everything else."

"I do not dote on him." Emerald eyes looked up at him, fury burning within them. She pulled her hand away from him, still glaring, her lips pursed. "I am completely devoted to our mission and Aizen-sama. It is you who is being blinded by your emotions, by your hatred for Kurosaki," she hissed, angered to be accused of being anything other than loyal.

"Didn't look that way back at the park," he bit back.

She looked taken aback, but maintained her gaze on him, her eyes never leaving his, trying to read what he was thinking. Finally, she spoke;

"What is wrong with you?" she said quietly.

Grimmjow started, and looked at her, as though seeing her for the first time. But then he shook his head and snorted. "Whatever. Hell if I know. I'm going to bed. This conversation is annoying me." He pushed past her, walking towards the couch and then settling himself on it, lying down. He saw Kiorra turn around and face him, her expression softer, but by no means happy. She looked almost... concerned.

"Grimmjow-"

"Leave it," Grimmjow ordered.

"But-"

"I said, leave it. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Silence.

Kiorra bit her bottom lip. Grimmjow continued staring up at the ceiling, not even bothering to look her way.

"Fine," she said angrily. "Be that way, teme."

And that was the last thing she said to Grimmjow before going into her room and slamming the door behind her. Grimmjow did not even flinch at the sharp and loud noise.

Now that she was gone, the living room was completely quiet. He could not hear anything coming from Kiorra's room so he supposed that she must be lying on the bed, no doubt cursing him to oblivion. Tch. Grimmjow turned to lay down on his side. Damn that Kiorra, he thought angrily. Who did she think she was?

He stared at his open hand, remembering exactly how Kiorra looked like when she snapped and argued with him just now. Her eyes flashed angrily, her face was slightly red and pulled into a scowl, and she was shaking, too. It looked like she was trying her hardest to control her temper and not hit him. Grimmjow closed his hand into a fist. It was her fault anyway. At least, that was what Grimmjow said to himself, though he knew that it was not true at all.

It was true that she was doing this for the mission. Aizen had specifically ordered that they try to get information on the boy by any means possible, and really, she was just doing her job. He should not have gotten angry at her at all, yet he did. But still, she did not have to do that. There has to be limits, but Kiorra does not seem to understand that.

Grimmjow asked himself the same question she asked him before; What was wrong with him?

The Sexta cursed, and then covered his face in his hands, trying to push Kiorra and their argument out of his mind.

He did not understand.

He was beginning to care about Kiorra.

But was it in a "brotherly" way, as Renji had put it?

Grimmjow screwed his eyes shut, feeling a headache coming on. He cursed once more.

"Fuck this shit," he said loudly.

There was no use thinking about this sort of crap. It was just making him feel even more pissed off than he already was. Grimmjow shifted his position on the couch, waiting for sleep to come to him. He had a pretty hectic and emotionally draining few hours. And he was definitely not going to look forward to tomorrow. He had a feeling that things between him and Kiorra were not over just yet.

That night, Grimmjow fell asleep and had a most disturbing dream about Ulquiorra suddenly sprouting a set of breasts overnight.

* * *

**DIOR CRYSTAL:** ... Ahem. Couldn't resist. Sorry for the late update; I've been busy clearing away stuff I had to write, but I won't bore you with the details XD I _may_ not be writing GrimmUlqui anymore after I complete _Just Like A Girl_ and _Forbidden_. If I do, I won't be writing them as often. I hope this chapter is fine. I'll try to update faster. Reviews are appreciated.


	8. Kurosaki's House

The next day, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez woke up in an extremely bad mood. The memory of what had happened yesterday was burned into his memory. There was no way that he was going to forget a thing like that anytime soon. Never mind that extremely disturbing dream about Ulquiorra sprouting a set of breasts, the memory of Kiorra and Kurosaki kissing and the memory of Grimmjow and Kiorra fighting right after once they got back to their hotel room were as clear as day. To top it off, sleeping on the couch was not at all comfortable, which added to Grimmjow's already bad mood. The Sexta sat up on the couch and stretched his limbs, groaning as he did so.

He rubbed at his eyes. Man, what time was it? He glanced at the clock that hung on the wall. It was nearly noon. He overslept.

Everything was pretty much quiet here.

Well, it was quiet until the door to Kiorra's room was suddenly slammed open and she walked out of the room without giving him so much as a second look, the sound of her heels clacking on the marble floor extremely sharp. _Clack, clack, clack_. She marched right into the kitchen, poured herself a glass of orange juice before gulping it down and slamming the glass onto the counter, still not looking at him.

Huh. Good to know that she was in as good a mood as Grimmjow.

While she buttered some toast for herself, Grimmjow could not help noticing something about her. Something about her that made something click in his mind; a really vague memory. But when he could not remember what it was, Grimmjow just shrugged it off. Of course she looked familiar to him, she was Ulquiorra's _cousin_, after all, duh.

The only sound that filled the room was the sound of Kiorra opening a bottle of jam. They still refused to talk to each other. She looked really pretty today, Grimmjow noted. She was dressed in a cute, bright yellow dress and was wearing a pair of black heels to go with it. Her face was not heavily made up. She wore a bit of make-up, and a matching set of necklace and bracelet to complete her look.

_She must be planning to meet Kurosaki_, Grimmjow concluded sourly.

And his conclusion was confirmed as soon as Kiorra finished eating her toast.

"I'm going to Kurosaki's house today. He wants me to meet his family," she said, avoiding his gaze. "You're coming too. Renji is going to be there," she added, as though it explained everything. "Get ready. I'll meet you there."

Grimmjow made a face. "And what makes you think that I will do that?"

She gave him a look that would have made any other man bolt out of the room, but Grimmjow stood his ground.

"You will," she said icily. "Lunch at Kurosaki's is at 1. Be there by 12:30."

And with that said, she took up her handbag and walked out of the hotel room without so much as saying anything else, closing the door with a click.

So they were not even going to go anywhere with each other just like they used to?

That was just fine and dandy. Grimmjow kicked at the coffee table. Fuck this shit.

But he got up anyway and did what he was told, albeit reluctantly. There was no way that he was going to let one fight fuck up their mission. For one thing, he did not want another blazing row with Kiorra. For another, he did not want to get punished by Aizen. With the way that guy was acting nowadays, the possibility of Aizen making him star in a hentai homemade video was not too far off.

* * *

Ichigo was busy setting up the table in the dining room, trying his hardest to ignore his father's constant blabbering. He swore, he was_ this_ close to aiming a kick to Isshin's head again. The man had been following him practically everywhere since morning, asking him question after question after question. He followed Ichigo around from the moment the boy woke up. He followed Ichigo to the kitchen, to the living room, to the grocery store, to his bedroom. Why, even when Ichigo was taking a shower, Isshin was outside, yelling his questions at him over the sound of the running water.

Telling him to piss off did not work, nor did hitting him. His father was like a leech; almost impossible to get rid of. He was almost as persistent as Renji, who would not leave him alone unless Ichigo invited Grimmjow over for lunch as well.

And Ichigo was certainly not looking forward to seeing Grimmjow again after last night's fiasco.

"So who is this girl?" Isshin Kurosaki asked his son for what must have been the hundredth time that day.

"Didn't I just tell you?" Ichigo grumbled.

Isshin pouted. "But you only told me her name. That her name is Kiorrra Cifer," he whined. "That's not much I can go on! For all I know, she could be an assassin! Or from the mafia, or-"

"Stop pouting, it's very ugly."

"Only if you tell me more about her."

Ichigo heaved out a breath, annoyed. He scowled and turned to face his father. "Will you leave me alone if I tell you?" he demanded.

"Maybe."

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "Huh," he said. "Then I'm not telling you."

"What?! That's not fair!"

But Ichigo completely ignored him. Let the old man flap around helplessly for awhile. Kiorra was going to arrive anytime now, and his father could see her for himself. Ichigo could feel a light blush spread across his cheeks at the thought of her. His father could finally meet the woman that had captured Ichigo's heart.

"Oh my God, ha ha ha! You're blushing, Ichi!" Isshin guffawed loudly, completely ruining Ichigo's train of thought. "You're so cute! My son is in love! Are you thinking of Kiorra in her panties?" he wanted to know. Coming closer to his son, he nudged Ichigo in the elbow, and winked before slyly saying, "Or wearing nothing at all?"

Ichigo aimed a kick at Isshin's head.

* * *

The Cuarta paid for his fare and immediately stepped out of the taxi. With that done, Ulquiorra took out his cell phone and read the message that Kurosaki had sent to him last night, inviting him over to his house. Remembering what had happened last night made Ulquiorra's mood sour. He had to do a lot of damage control right after his fight with that idiot, Grimmjow. Kurosaki had called him up, worried, and Ulquiorra had to do a lot of apologising to him. The Ryoka even said that maybe it would be better if they were to slow down a little if Grimmjow was not comfortable with their relationship, to which Ulquiorra rejected with a resounding "No".

He wanted to get this mission done as quickly as possible. Delaying it was not an option. After all, Aizen-sama was waiting, and it did not do to make him wait for too long.

And besides, being invited to Kurosaki's house was an extremely good sign. He could not turn down the opportunity once it was presented to him.

What he could not understand was _why_ Grimmjow could not understand this. The Sexta was getting overemotional about this mission. Ulquiorra scowled, remembering what had taken place last night. The idiot. Who did he think he was, dragging him right back to their hotel room and then ignoring him like that? Ulquiorra was so close to punching him last night. Even the thought of it right now was making his blood boil. He took in a deep breath. He had to relax. If he wanted his meeting with Kurosaki's family to go well, he had to _at least_ act like he was in a good mood.

Ulquiorra sighed and attempted to put on a pleasant face when he arrived at Kurosaki's house, slipping his cell phone back into his handbag. Standing on Kurosaki's doorstep, Ulquiorra took in another deep breath before ringing the doorbell.

_Well, here it goes._

The first person that answered the door was not Kurosaki, surprisingly, but a little girl with light brown hair. She looked up at Ulquiorra, her eyes large.

"Hello," Ulquiorra said pleasantly. "My name is Kiorra. I am a friend of your brother, Ichigo Kurosaki. You must be his sister. Is he in?"

The girl's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing Ulquiorra's "name". "Oh, so you're Kiorra? You're really pretty!" she exclaimed admiringly. "Yes, I'm his sister, Yuzu. Big brother is in the living room at the moment and-"

"DID I JUST HEAR THE NAME 'KIORRA'"?!"

A black-haired man whose face resembled a lot like a goat scrambled up to Yuzu's side, panting heavily. He looked Ulquiorra from head to toe, as though sizing him up. Apparently, what he saw pleased him because the next thing Ulquiorra knew was that the man was suddenly grinning from ear to ear. Ulquiorra had to admit that he felt a bit alarmed by his behaviour. He shifted uncomfortably under the man's gaze. It was most disturbing. But then again, it was not like Kurosaki had not warned him about this at all.

Goat-like, perverted, hyper, mentally unstable... From the description that the boy had given him the other day, this must be Ichigo Kurosaki's father, Isshin Kurosaki.

Though the man disturbed him, Ulquiorra smiled all the same. If he wanted to achieve his mission, he would just have to bear with this. "Hello, I'm Kiorra," Ulquiorra introduced himself once more. "You are Ichigo's father, I take it? It is very nice to meet you." He held out his hand.

If possible, the man's already huge smile widened.

"You're a gem!" He took Ulquiorra's hand and shook it vigorously, a twinkle in his eye. "No wonder my son likes you!"

"Uh... I..." What could he say? For the first time in his life, Ulquiorra was rendered speechless. He did not know how to deal with this man. And did Ulquiorra just see his eyes wander to his chest? No, no, he must have been seeing things. There was no way Isshin could be_ that_ perverted. "I..."

But luckily, he was saved from making a fool of himself in front of Isshin (if that was even possible) when someone suddenly kicked Isshin in the head.

"Behave yourself, will you, Dad?!" Ichigo yelled, frustrated. Turning back to his "girlfriend" he smiled awkwardly. "Sorry about that, Kiorra," he said apologetically. "Dad can get a bit too overexcited sometimes."

Ulquiorra returned the smile. For the first time, Ulquiorra felt glad to see him. He did not know how much longer he would be able to deal with Isshin. "It's quite alright."

"Ah." Ichigo blinked, as though suddenly remembering something. He looked around. "Where is Grimmjow?" he questioned. "He's supposed to be here. Renji is already waiting for him in the living room." He looked back at Ulquiorra, his brown eyes full of worry. "Or is he still mad about last night? I can apologise to-"

"There is no need," Ulquiorra cut in. "You don't need to apologise. Grimmjow will be here. We just decided to come here separately... especially after what happened last night."

The orange-haired teen seemed to want to ask Ulquiorra more on the matter, but when he saw the look on Ulquiorra's face, he nodded in understanding. "Of course," he said, and did not press Ulquiorra on the matter any further. Ichigo stepped back, gesturing for Ulquiorra to enter. "Come on in."

* * *

Grimmjow kicked at a pebble on the ground, annoyed. Imagine, taking a taxi by himself when he and Kiorra could have gone to that idiot boy's house together. But then again, it was his fault that they were fighting right now, not that he would admit it. This mission was pissing him the hell off. He could not wait for it to end. When the hell was that brat going to spill the beans? Grimmjow swore, if the brat was not going to tell Kiorra anything anytime soon, he was going to personally strangle it out of him. It would serve him right for wasting so much of their time.

Grimmjow looked up at the house which the Kurosaki family resided in and scowled.

How he wished that he could cero this house to oblivion.

He really did not want to spend any more time with Kurosaki than he had to. But if he did not do this, he and Kiorra would probably have another row, and having a row with a person who was two ranks above him really was not a good idea. Having to put up with Kiorra when she was having her PMS was bad enough, he did not need her even more angry at him than she was right now. He bit the inside of his cheek. Maybe he should try asking her for forgiveness if he wanted everything to get back to normal again? She was only doing her job, after all.

Grimmjow shook his head. No. There was no need for that.

Trying his best to calm himself down or else he would have killed everyone in the house, Grimmjow inhaled and exhaled a few times before reaching out and ringing the doorbell.

Inside, Renji felt like he was about to burst with impatience. He drummed his fingers on the coffee table's surface. Where was Grimmjow? He knew that now was probably not a good time for them to meet again and at of all places, at Ichigo's house, but he had really been looking forward to seeing him. He did not get to meet his blue-haired beauty very often. The number of times that they had met totalled up to an outstanding number of two times. After seeing Ichigo being all mushy with Kiorra again just now, he found himself wishing that Grimmjow would turn up right at that moment.

He liked Kiorra well enough, and Ichigo was his best friend, but he did not want to be left alone with the lovey dovey couple. And when Ichigo brought Kiorra up to his room for them to "talk" for awhile, Renji felt a bit left out.

Good thing Rukia was out with Orihime or Kiorra might have gotten into a jealous fit at the fact that Ichigo had a woman sleeping in his closet.

Renji knew that Grimmjow was upset about his sister being "violated", but really, he should learn to relax. Kiorra was a big girl now, after all. And Ichigo was a good guy. He hoped that last night's incident would not ruin all chances of them meeting again. Grimmjow would probably not want to hang out with him alone just yet. Maybe only after he got to know him more...

As Renji contemplated of the number of ways that he could do in order for the other to warm up to him, he heard the doorbell ring.

_Ding dong._

Renji looked up, as though unable to believe his ears. Could it be? Heart beating fast, he stood up and walked towards the door eagerly. Maybe it was Grimmjow. And the moment that he opened the door, he found that his prayers had been answered. There, right on the doorstep stood Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, who looked as beautiful as ever.

"Oh, it's you," Grimmjow said flatly when he caught sight of Renji. "Yo."

... A bit moody, yes, but still beautiful nonetheless.

Grimmjow was dressed in a plain, black button-up shirt, its long sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and wore a pair of faded jeans. He did not seem to notice that Renji was eyeing the way his shirt hugged him in all the right places. If Renji could, he would have long ripped that shirt off of him and ravished him. Did Grimmjow have any idea how sexy he looked like at that moment? From the disgruntled look on his face, he probably did not.

Renji grinned, glad to see his beauty again so soon. "Hey, Grimmjow," he greeted, grinning. "Come on in."

"Hn."

Grimmjow shuffled into the house, his hands in his pockets, and looked around. Huh. It looked like the kid's family was not doing too badly. But then again, he should have known this since the kid's father was a doctor. The house had a warm atmosphere to it. Grimmjow had no doubt in his mind that Ichigo Kurosaki had a very loving family. Seeing the number of framed family pictures that hung on the wall was proof of this.

_Kiorra would probably like staying in a place like this than plain, cold Las Noches_, Grimmjow thought viciously.

He knitted his eyebrows together when something clicked in his mind. Speaking of Kiorra, where was she? Wasn't she supposed to be here? He did not see her anywhere.

Turning to face Renji, he asked, "Where is Kiorra?"

"Eh?" Renji said, taking his eyes off of Grimmjow's tight ass reluctantly. "Oh, uh, right. Kiorra, your sister, right?"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes. "Are you stupid or something?" he said in annoyance. "Yes, Kiorra, my sister. Who else could I be talking about? Has she arrived yet? We were supposed to meet here."

"Oh, right..." Renji scratched the back of his neck. He knew exactly where Kiorra was right at this moment, but Grimmjow was not going to like it. "Kiorra... she..."

"She what?" Grimmjow said dangerously.

"Urmm..."

"Spit it out."

The red-haired man laughed awkwardly. "Well, you're not going to like it."

"Try me." Grimmjow crossed his arms across his chest.

"Okay then... Just don't do anything crazy, alright?" Renji said.

Grimmjow scowled upon hearing this, but nodded all the same. He wanted to know where she was. "Fine."

Upon hearing his answer, Renji sighed in relief. "Well, if you want to know," he began, "She's upstairs, in Ichigo's room."

...

"She is WHAT?"

All thoughts of asking Kiorra for forgiveness were immediately thrown out of the window.

* * *

Ulquiorra sat on Ichigo's bed, surveying his surroundings carefully. So this was Ichigo Kurosaki's bedroom. It was quite neat, he noted. He liked that. It seemed like that unlike most boys his age, Kurosaki actually cared about being neat. And there were books too, most of them their spines wrinkled, showing that the boy must have studied and read them numerous times.

_So he is studious too_, Ulquiorra mused.

He looked at the orange-haired teen sitting next to him. Ichigo was wringing his hands, as though trying to think of what to say. He had called Ulquiorra up here because he had something important to say. Ulquiorra had to admit that although he did not fancy Ichigo, he did find how nervous he was right now quite cute. It was too bad that Aizen-sama would probably request to kill him one of these days; Ulquiorra was quite sure that they would have gotten along quite well. Now, if Ichigo would stop kissing him, they would get along splendidly.

Ulquiorra looked out of the window and sighed. This problem that he had with Grimmjow... Was he overreacting? Grimmjow was looking out for him, after all...

Raising his gaze from his hands, Ichigo glanced at the raven-haired beauty that sat beside him.

Kiorra had a lost, almost melancholy look on her face as she stared out of the window. Seeing this made Ichigo feel slightly guilty. Was she thinking about her brother? She did not seem to be her usual happy self today. He licked his lips, wetting them. His throat felt dry. What was he supposed to say?

"Hey," he said gently, placing his hand over hers. "Is there something wrong?"

Emerald eyes snapped to attention, startled. Ulquiorra attempted a smile. "No, nothing is wrong. I was just thinking." He paused, searching brown eyes. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "There is a reason that you brought me up here, right? What did you want to talk to me about?" Ulquiorra wanted to know.

Was this it? Had he known the boy long enough for him to open up?

Ichigo hesitated.

Ulquiorra exhaled softly. It was time for him to use his "feminine" wiles to get whatever Ichigo wanted to say out of him.

"Come now," he said, scooting closer to Ichigo. He leaned his forehead against Ichigo's and placed the palm of his hand against the other's tan cheek before moving it to the back of his neck, pale fingers tangling themselves in bright orange hair. This action seemed to make the boy relax. "What is wrong? You can tell me anything. I'm here if you need me."

Brown eyes softened, and a watery smile pulled at the edges of Ichigo's lips. "Kiorra..." he reached out and cupped Ulquiorra's cheek. A blush spread across his face. It seemed that whatever he wanted to say was difficult for him to get out. "I..."

"Yes?" Ulquiorra urged.

"I want you..."

Ulquiorra was stumped. "You want me to what?"

"I want you."

"What? I'm afraid that I don't understand, Ichigo."

Ichigo let out a shuddering breath, but nonetheless, he repeated what he said, making sure that every syllable that slipped past his lips were perfectly clear. "I want_ you_."

Ulquiorra's heart stopped.

... WHAT?

"You... want... me?" Ulquiorra choked, and Ichigo nodded. A million scenarios were spinning around his head now, and one of them involved him with his back against the mattress and his legs spread out, moaning, with Ichigo Kurosaki on top of him, thrusting in and out of...

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, _no_.

"You see, I've never been this serious with a girl before," Ichigo said as he played with Ulquiorra's raven hair in an affectionate manner, not noticing the fact that Ulquiorra had practically frozen in place after his little confession. He brushed his lips against a pair of pale ones, making the owner snap back to reality. Ulquiorra gulped, feeling chills run up and down his spine. "And I've only felt this way with you, Kiorra."

Ulquiorra nearly bolted right out of the room.

"Ohh... Ha ha ha..." Ulquiorra laughed weakly. Crap. What the hell did he just get himself into? "Don't you think that maybe you are just..." He tried to desperately find a suitable word. "... Confused?"

"Of my feelings for you?" Ichigo asked, brushing raven hair out of emerald eyes and tucking them behind Ulquiorra's ear. "Not at all."

Damn it.

Ichigo was about to press a kiss against Ulquiorra's lips when the Cuarta Espada stopped him.

You know what? Forget the mission and Aizen-sama. He was NOT going to have sex with Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Ichigo," Ulquiorra said, trying his best to stay calm, though his heart was beating fast. "I think that this may be a little too early for us."

The teen tilted his head. "Early?" he questioned. "Early for what?"

Ulquiorra gave him a look. "For us to have sex."

The orange-haired teen looked confused, and when Ulquiorra's words finally sunk in, he smiled, then he grinned and then he chuckled before bursting into laughter. He pulled Ulquiorra into his arms, nuzzling the Cuarta's pale neck. "You're so cute, Kiorra," he said fondly, his lips moving against pale skin. He pulled Ulquiorra even closer until their bodies were practically flush together. "As much as I'd like to do that, I don't mean sex, Kiorra. I was talking about something else."

Ulquiorra stopped. "What were you talking about, then?" he said cautiously.

The other only smiled before giving Ulquiorra a chaste kiss. "I want to be in a serious relationship with you," he said, rendering the Cuarta speechless for the second time that day, and proceeded to deepen the kiss.

It did not take long for Ulquiorra to be pushed down gently, his back against the mattress with Ichigo hovering above him, still not breaking from the kiss. Ulquiorra screwed his eyes shut. No, not this again. Only one thing kept running through his mind as Kurosaki caressed pale skin with his warm lips. He balled his hands into fists, trying his best to calm himself down.

_Grimmjow_...

"Kiorra," Ichigo mumbled, intertwining his fingers with pale ones. "Kiorra, I want to tell you everything."

"Everything?" Ulquiorra echoed, forgetting for a moment that he was currently trapped between the bed and Kurosaki's body.

Ichigo nodded. "Everything about me."

* * *

"My son is about to become a man!" Isshin Kurosaki whispered gleefully to his tomboy daughter, Karin.

Karin rolled her eyes. "No, he isn't. Didn't you just hear him say that he was not talking about that at all?"

"But-"

"Shhh." Yuzu frowned at them disapprovingly and placed a finger against her lips, telling them to keep quiet.

Isshin and both of his daughters were currently pressing their ears against Ichigo's bedroom door in an attempt to hear what was going on in there. The moment that Isshin found out that his son had brought a girl other than Rukia up to his room, he immediately scrambled upstairs and tried to listen to what was going on inside. There was no way he was going to miss Ichigo's first time having sex. After all, he had told Ichigo that he would be there for him at all times, and that definitely did not exclude sex.

He just hoped that Ichigo remembered to buy condoms.

But if Ichigo did not, he could always borrow some from his ever reliable father.

"Come on, Ichigo," Isshin found himself muttering, "Go for it! Daddy is here to support you!"

A shadow loomed over the three people huddled against the door. Upon seeing the person that approached them, Yuzu and Karin moved away slowly. The murderous aura that the person was emitting was nearly impossible not to miss. Isshin remained oblivious to their new guest, though, and continued to eavesdrop on his son's conversation with his new girlfriend.

"Just do it," Isshin muttered. "She's totally into you. You're so in there."

"Who, exactly, is so in there?"

"Ichigo, of course!" he said, irritated, turning around to look at the person who spoke. "Weren't you listening to a single thing that I was saying-" His eyes widened.

Oh. Fuck.

Above him stood a tall, blue-haired man who looked like he was about to go on a murderous rampage. His jaw was set and there was a dark aura about him as he glared daggers at the door as though willing for it to burn into ashes.

* * *

"Whoa, relax, man." Renji held his hands in front of him, trying to calm down a positively incensed Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez. "It's a normal thing for couples to do, isn't it? Spend some alone time together to talk, hold hands, and then maybe do a bit of kissing, and if they're really in the mood, take it a bit further..."

Grimmjow's eye twitched. "... Take it a bit... further?"

Shit. He really should not have said that.

"I didn't really mean that, I- Hey, don't go up there!"

But his words fell on deaf ears, because Grimmjow was already stomping up the stairs, ready to give Ichigo Kurosaki a piece of his mind. Screw this mission. He wanted to beat that boy up. The fucking asshole.

"Wait! Grimmjow!"

Who did Kurosaki think he was anyway? He only knew Kiorra for a couple of weeks, and he was already acting as though she was his property. Bastard. Grimmjow stalked towards Kurosaki's room, his hands balled into fists. Kurosaki's room was not that hard to find; he could easily tell which was his room when he saw three people huddled around a door to someone's bedroom, all three of them eavesdropping.

"My son is about to become a man!"

"No, he isn't. Didn't you just hear him say that he was not talking about that at all?"

"But-"

"Shhh."

"Come on, Ichigo. Go for it! Daddy is here to support you!" A pause. "Just do it. She's totally into you. You're so in there."

Grimmjow could not take it anymore. "Who, exactly, is so in there?" he said coldly, cutting in. Visions of Kurosaki suffering a very painful and bloody death kept flashing through his mind's eye. If Kurosaki was doing exactly what he was thinking, Grimmjow was going to have his head.

"Ichigo, of course!" the black-haired man, who was probably Kurosaki's father, Isshin, responded in annoyance. He turned around to face Grimmjow. "Weren't you listening to a single thing that I was saying-" and the words just died on his lips. His eyes widened.

"And that is all I need to know in order to beat up Ichigo." Grimmjow advanced on the door, making Isshin scramble out of the way and grabbed onto the doorknob.

"OI! The hell are you doing?!" Renji puffed out, having run up the stairs in order to catch up with a fuming Grimmjow. He had closed his hand over Grimmjow's wrist, preventing the other from opening the door. He glared at the blue-haired man. "I thought I told you not to do anything crazy!"

"KIORRA is in there!" Grimmjow protested.

"So?!"

"She is my _sister_."

"She's with Ichigo, she'll be fine. I swear you're worried over nothing."

"I don't care! That little shit is gonna get his ass kicked-"

"For what?!" Renji said exasperatedly. "He's not going to do anything bad to her-"

"How the fuck do you know?!"

"I just know, okay?!"

"Have you even _seen_ the way he looks at her-"

"Why don't you just take my word for it-"

"His face practically screams 'I want to rape you' whenever he looks at her!"

"You're just imagining things-"

"If he so much as lays a hand on her-"

"He is NOT going to do anything-"

"What is going on here?"

Renji and Grimmjow nearly snapped their necks turning to look in the direction of the source of the voice. Ichigo Kurosaki had opened the door and was looking at them curiously. And right behind him stood Kiorra, who look a bit annoyed at the interruption.

_Of course she's annoyed_, Grimmjow thought angrily. _But then again, it's not like she doesn't see that bastard every single day-_ And his trail of thought ended right there when Grimmjow caught sight of something that nearly made his heart stop. On Kiorra's pale neck was an extremely obvious purple mark, marring her once flawless skin. When she noticed where Grimmjow was looking at, she clapped a hand over the lovebite. She even had the grace to look ashamed, refusing to meet Grimmjow's gaze.

_Kiorra and Kurosaki_...

"What are you guys doing yelling outside here?" Ichigo questioned. "Is there something wrong?"

Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, glaring at Kiorra. "No," he said softly, making her look up. "There is _nothing_ wrong."

The brief moment when hurt flickered in emerald eyes was enough to make Grimmjow feel satisfied.

"Whoa, hey, Grimmjow..." said Renji, when Grimmjow pushed past him.

"Later, Renji," was Grimmjow's only answer. He did not want to stay here any longer or even pretend to be happy just for the sake of this stupid mission. Aizen could get mad for all he cared. And the bastard could go and film Kiorra and Kurosaki getting it on by himself. Grimmjow walked down the stairs and past all of the family pictures, ignoring all of them and whoever it was that was calling him to come back.

Once he was outside, Grimmjow took a few deep breaths, trying to still his fast beating heart. He did not understand. He covered his face in his hands, feeling a headache coming on. He just did not understand what was going on anymore. He looked back, and saw that no one followed him. He almost felt like laughing. Of course. What did he expect?


	9. The Both of You

It had been a few days now since Grimmjow last spoke to Kiorra, and this cold war did not show any signs of letting up. If Kiorra were to enter the room, Grimmjow would leave it. If she tried talking to him, he would at most, give her one-word answers. He had even stopped asking her about where she was going to whenever she wanted to go out because he knew what answer he would receive anyway. Grimmjow's relationship with Kiorra was so bad right now that Kiorra had given up trying to talk to him. Though the both of them lived together, they acted like the other did not exist.

In short?

Things were not good.

Grimmjow flipped his cell phone open upon feeling it vibrate.

"_Will see you there in about 30 mins then._"

It was a message from Renji. The blue-haired arrancar quickly typed back his message to the other:

"_Yeah, yeah. See you._"

Just then, Kiorra walked out of her room, all dolled up and ready to go out. _No doubt to go out and see Kurosaki again_, Grimmjow thought angrily. When she saw Grimmjow, Kiorra looked at him up and down, slightly surprised at his outfit. It looked like he was going to go out again.

"Where are you going?" she asked, before she could stop herself.

Grimmjow raised an eyebrow. This was the first time she had spoken to him in awhile. Apparently, after seeing him go out nearly every day for a week now had gotten her curious.

"I'm going out," he responded curtly.

"With?"

"Renji." He slipped his cell phone into his pocket. It was time for him to go.

A look that was not unlike anger crossed emerald eyes. "Is he the one that you've been going out with lately?" she demanded.

"Why, yes." He got up from his seat on the couch and made his way to the door. "Got a problem with that?" he said coldly.

Kiorra blinked. She was not used to being spoken to so coldly by Grimmjow. Especially since they had been quite close... before the incident that happened at Kurosaki's house.

"N-no..."

"Good. Because I'm doing my part of the mission."

"What?"

"I'm doing my part, Kiorra," Grimmjow snapped. "Just like how you're doing your part by dating that Kurosaki."

He looked at Kiorra expectantly, expecting her to slap him, punch him, kick him, just hit him, but... nothing. Though he could see many emotions swirling in her emerald eyes, she did not act on any of them. Not anger, not sadness, not confusion... none of them. Instead, she looked at the ground for awhile before shifting her gaze back to Grimmjow's face.

"I see." She gave a weak smile. "Good luck, then."

* * *

His heels clacked on the pavement as he walked, his handbag slung over his shoulder. Ulquiorra ignored the perverted looks that he received from passersby (who were all male). After spending God knows how long in this female body, he was already used to the attention he received from the male population all the time. Perverted idiots, all of them. A sigh escaped his lips as he thought about a certain Sexta Espada.

He did not understand.

He knew that Grimmjow did not like Kurosaki, but to get so angry to the point of ignoring Ulquiorra because he chose to keep on communicating with the boy (even though it was for a mission) was extremely immature. He just did not understand this. Nor did he understand why he felt so guilty when Grimmjow saw the love bite on his neck.

Well...

Ulquiorra continued walking, the sound of his heels clacking against the pavement and the sound of people all around him chattering filling his ears.

That was a lie. He understood perfectly well why he felt guilty and why it hurt him so much that Grimmjow was treating him this way. But it could not be helped. A mission was a mission, and his feelings for Grimmjow could not, should not get in the way. After all... Ulquiorra smiled a sad smile. The only person that he served was Aizen-sama, and if it was Aizen-sama's wish, he would follow it through to the end. Whether Grimmjow approved of it or not. And for whatever reason he had for his disapproval.

Even though that was his decision, Ulquiorra could not stop the gloom that hung over him because of it.

Grimmjow... It had been so long since they had a proper conversation. A conversation where they did not fight with each other.

When a very familiar orange-haired teen appeared in his range of sight, Ulquiorra immediately smoothed over his features with a smile. Now was not the time to brood over such matters.

"Ichigo..." Ulquiorra said in the sweetest voice that he could muster.

Brown eyes twinkled upon seeing Ulquiorra.

"Kiorra," Ichigo murmured, draping his arm around Ulquiorra's shoulders fondly. "You came."

"Of course I did," Ulquiorra replied, "We are an item, after all." He nuzzled Ichigo's neck. "Would you expect anything less from me?"

Ichigo smiled at that. "Of course not."

* * *

To describe Abarai Renji as happy would be an understatement. The shinigami was much, much, _much_ more than happy. He was ecstatic. He was on cloud nine. He was over the moon. If he were to die now, he would be dying a happy man; but of course, he wouldn't want that to happen, he was too happy at the moment. He could not believe how lucky he was. Imagine how surprised he felt when his blue-haired beauty actually called him up over a week ago, asking when they could hang out.

And ever since then, they had been hanging out with each other every day. It was practically taking him all of his willpower not to jump the incredibly sexy man and ravish him till the break of dawn.

Sure, the man was not very talkative and was always very moody, but Renji did not mind. He did not even mind the fact that every time he touched Grimmjow led to Grimmjow hitting him. Nope. Not at all. Grimmjow was always in a bad mood and spoke very little whenever they hung out, but he supposed that that had to do with his sister, Kiorra. Well, the man had never really talked much to Renji in the first place, but he could tell that Grimmjow's mind was nearly always on his sister. After what had happened last time, he was not surprised. From what he was able to get out of Grimmjow, he was still not talking to his sister.

Abarai Renji was going to melt Grimmjow's icy heart one way or another. Because today, today he was going to confess to him.

Renji checked his watch for what must have been the umpteenth time that day. Where was Grimmjow? He could not wait to meet him again. So when he caught sight of a certain blue-haired man walking towards him, a smile could not help but to make its way to Renji's face.

As Grimmjow neared him, he raised an eyebrow at Renji. "The hell is that stupid look on your face for?"

"Yo, Grimmjow!" Renji grinned, ignoring what Grimmjow had just said. He looked excited to see Grimmjow, as usual. "I missed you," he said gleefully, wrapping an arm around the other man's waist.

Grimmjow looked at him, not amused at all. "How many times have I told you not to do that?" he said drily.

"Aww, I can't help it, I missed you. You know I love you, right?"

"Che. Idiot," Grimmjow said, not getting the fact that Renji was in fact being very serious. He pinched at the red-haired man's arm. Hard.

"Ow!" Renji yelped, immediately pulling back his arm. "What was that for?"

"That's for being so fucking touchy feely all the time, you bastard. It makes me look weird."

To say that their date – well, Grimmjow was the only one who did not know that this was a date – went exactly how Renji had imagined it, would be an incorrect statement. Because none of the things that he had pictured the day before in a daydream happened; Grimmjow did not smile upon seeing him, nor did he hug him. Grimmjow did not return any of his touches. Grimmjow did not shower him with attention, or act cute. He did not even blush when Renji teased him. If anything, he gave Renji a cold stare for that. Heck, it seemed that Grimmjow's attention was on anything but Renji.

Throughout the entire date, Grimmjow's mind was somewhere else. He only spoke when Renji talked to him and his responses consisted mostly of one-word replies and grunts. Sometimes, he even snapped at Renji. All in all, Grimmjow was moodier than usual. He must be upset about something.

It really was frustrating to see his blue-haired princess act like this all the time. His princess should be sugary sweet and all smiles with sparkles and flowers floating around in the background and-

"Why the hell are you staring at me like that with that freaky ass smile on your face?" Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez grouched as he drank his coke from a straw noisily.

And the image of an incredibly sweet, smiling and baby blue dress-clad Grimmjow with sparkles and flowers in the background immediately evaporated.

Grimmjow wrinkled his nose, a disgusted expression on his face.

Though he must admit that the image of a handcuffed, leather-clad Grimmjow with a leather collar wrapped around his neck as he knelt before him on his knees was also appealing...

"And you've even got drool dripping down your chin. Get a hold of yourself, will ya?"

Well, grumpy or not, Grimmjow was still a princess in his eyes.

"God. You're so embarrassing sometimes."

An incredibly sweet princess.

"Don't be like that," Renji said, placing a hand on top of Grimmjow's, which rested on the table, "I'm just happy to be able to spend some time with you~"

"Che!" Grimmjow looked away, pulling his hand back, "You're so gay sometimes." He scowled. "I swear, you're doing this to piss me off."

"No, never to piss you off... Why would I do that?" Renji whined.

"Ugh."

Grimmjow promptly tuned out Renji's whining and stared unseeingly at one of the stores in the mall. He drummed his fingers on the table, completely lost in his thoughts once more. They were now having lunch at a fast food restaurant, and as usual, Renji was grating on his nerves by acting strange. But dealing with Renji was much better than hanging around in the hotel room. If anything, the only reason that he was hanging out with Renji was because he did not want to see or think about Kiorra. He scowled again. Still, being here was making him fidget.

This was the mall that he shopped at with Kiorra not too long ago.

He shook his head. Fuck it. Why the hell was he thinking about her anyway? Grimmjow picked up his drink again moodily and sucked through the straw. It was not like she was that important anyway. She was just a stuck up bitch.

And yet...

And yet Grimmjow could not help remembering the rare show of hurt that displayed in her eyes before she wished him luck on his mission. And the way seeing that made his heart clench tightly, as guilt filled him. The drumming of fingers on the table slowed down a bit. Kiorra...

Grimmjow clutched at his forehead, the other hand now on the table.

Why?

He... he just did not understand any of this. Even though he was doing all he could to avoid her, and even though she was nowhere near him right now, she was still on his mind. Always. And to prove it, he kept seeing her everywhere. If he saw a woman with raven hair like Kiorra's, he would immediately think of her. If he saw a woman with emerald eyes, he would think of her. If he saw anything related to her, he would, yes, think of her. Not only was she on his mind when he was wide awake, she was beginning to take over his dreams.

But, she was not the only one. Ulquiorra was not too far off from his mind as well. Whenever he was alone, he would constantly wonder where Ulquiorra was, how he was doing, and if, wherever Ulquiorra was, did he spare a thought for Grimmjow? Just remembering the way Ulquiorra left, without even telling him anything, made his heart clench, made it hard for him to breathe. And like Kiorra, if he saw something that reminded him of Ulquiorra, he would immediately think of him.

_He could have at least told me..._

Grimmjow heaved out a breath. _Why_, he asked himself once more.

He was so confused.

Ulquiorra and Kiorra... He remembered how his first meeting with both were like. Though it had been years since his first meeting with Ulquiorra, the memory was burned into his mind.

_The Sexta watched the birth of their new comrade, watched as the pale arrancar opened its eyes, watched as he told Aizen his name, he watched until he was the only one left in the room, along with the new arrancar. There was just something about his new comrade that fascinated him. Perhaps it was his white skin, or maybe it was his emerald eyes or maybe just everything about him. Since he had volunteered to stay back and give clothes to the younger, Grimmjow slowly neared the arrancar._

_Once he was close enough, he pressed some clothes into the arrancar's small hands._

_"Here."_

_"Thank you," he responded softly, before shivering slightly._

_"Huh." Grimmjow raised an eyebrow, removed his jacket, placed it on the arrancar's shoulders, then plopped himself next to him._

_"Wait, there is no need to-"_

_"My name is Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez," Grimmjow interrupted, turning to look at him, "What's your name again?"_

_The other blinked. "Ul-Ulquiorra..." he said slowly, "Ulquiorra Cifer."  
_

And the memory of his first meeting with Kiorra was still fresh in his mind.

_Grimmjow wanted nothing more than to see her burn on the spot. Unable to stop himself, he found himself speaking, words coming out of his mouth, angry and bitter._

_"Who the fuck are you?" Grimmjow growled at the petite woman's retreating back._

_The woman stopped in her tracks at the sound of his voice. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder and Grimmjow nearly took a few steps backwards when he saw how eerily alike her eyes were with Ulquiorra Cifer's. A bright emerald._

Things were perfectly fine before she came along. Before she came along, everything was about Ulquiorra. And she just fucked everything up. She and Ulquiorra... They were, dare he say it, one and the same.

He pissed him off.

_Emerald eyes averted their gaze from sapphire ones._

_Grimmjow grabbed Ulquiorra's arm, fire blazing in his sapphire eyes. He was furious. "Teme. Why the fuck are you being so weird nowadays? It's pissing me the hell off. Will you fucking cut it out?" He squeezed the Cuarta's arm painfully, intending to hurt Ulquiorra._

_Ulquiorra merely looked at the hand that was gripping his arm and said coolly, seemingly unaffected, not once meeting Grimmjow's gaze, "Let go of me, Sexta."_

She pissed him off.

_"Damn it, I told you to stop that!" Grimmjow snatched at her wrist, pulling it away from his chest. "You're the one who has been getting sidetracked from the mission, what with your constant doting over the Ryoka! Next thing I know, you'll probably run off with him and forget everything else."_

He was bossy.

_"Sexta, you shouldn't be going to the meeting looking like that."_

_"Why the hell should you care?"_

_"We must be presentable when facing Aizen-sama. Therefore, you should change."_

_"No fucking way am I-"_

_"Change, Sexta," Ulquiorra repeated with finality in his tone._

She was bossy.

_She grabbed a nice, clean shirt and a pair of jeans and walked towards the bed before throwing the clothes at Grimmjow's face._

_"OW! What the fuck, woman?" Grimmjow snarled, snatching the clothes off of his face. He sat up, glaring at her. "Why did you do that?"_

_"Get dressed," she said calmly._

He was stubborn.

_"Hey," Grimmjow said, when he saw how tired Ulquiorra looked, "You should go to sleep, man. You look exhausted."_

_Ulquiorra shook his head. "No. I have some paperwork I have to finish."_

_"So? You can always finish them tomorrow, it ain't like it's due anytime soon."_

_"I'd prefer not to."_

_"Rest, you idiot."_

_Ulquiorra pursed his lips. "No."_

_"I'm telling you, you gotta-"_

_Ulquiorra narrowed his eyes and stared back at him defiantly. He took in a deep breath and let the word roll off of his tongue slowly, "No."_

She was stubborn.

_"Look, I would have bought you a one piece swimsuit, but they were all out of those. All they had left were bikinis. Just wear them."_

_She crossed her arms across her obviously female chest. "No."_

_"It'll help with making Kurosaki like you."_

_"No."_

_"Wear them."_

_"No."_

_Grimmjow narrowed his eyes at her. "Kiorra Cifer, you'd better fucking wear 'em or I'll make you."_

_Kiorra narrowed her eyes and stared back at him defiantly. She took in a deep breath and let the word roll off of her tongue slowly, "No."_

She was loyal to that twat Aizen to the point that could be considered the same as Ulquiorra, her cousin.

They both annoyed the hell out of him. They _both_ made him feel like pulling his hair out in frustration. They were both so damned alike that the only difference was that Kiorra had tits and Ulquiorra had a penis.

...

But they also made him smile.

He filled that hole in his heart.

_"Grimmjow..."_

_That was the first thing he heard when Grimmjow opened his eyes. He tried to sit up, but immediately stopped when it only made the blood from his wound gush out. A pair of pale hands pushed him down, making him lay down._

_"Stay still, Grimmjow," Ulquiorra murmured, "I have not finished bandaging you yet."_

_"Ul-Ulquiorra?" he said, surprised. _

_Ulquiorra, if he could help it, would usually keep his distance from him, but this time, he did not, even though he could have just let one of the lower arrancars tend to his wounds. Grimmjow did not question this, though, allowing Ulquiorra to do his work. For whatever reason Ulquiorra was doing this, he knew that he was doing it because he wanted to. Grimmjow closed his eyes, touched._

She filled that hole in his heart.

_"Kiorra! I haven't got all day you know."_

_"If you don't keep quiet, Sexta, I'm going to cero you," Kiorra said warningly. She took one last look at herself in the mirror, grimaced, and then stepped out of the changing room, ready to face a sour faced Grimmjow._

_"Tch. I'd like to see you try. I bet you can't even…" and the words just died on Grimmjow's lips as he stared open mouthed at Kiorra, a soft shade of pink beginning to dust his tanned face._

_"Well, what do you think?" When Grimmjow did not answer her, Kiorra shifted uncomfortably, not used to the way Grimmjow was looking at her. "What? What is wrong?" Kiorra said worriedly.  
_

_Grimmjow blinked, snapping out of his reverie. "Nothing. There's nothing wrong," he laughed awkwardly. "You look fine, Kiorra. Really."_

He made him feel like caring for him.

_"Sexta," Ulquiorra intoned, trying to sit up on his bed. He coughed. "What are you doing here? I am not well."_

_"Heh." He closed the door behind him. "That's the reason I'm here."_

_Ulquiorra stared at him, his expression stoic. "Are you planning to kill me while I am weak?"_

_Grimmjow scowled. "No! What do ya take me for?" he snapped, feeling insulted. He looked away, a blush beginning to form on his cheeks. "You took care of me before when I was injured, so-"_

_"I don't see how-"_

_"Shut up, will you?" Grimmjow groaned. He walked towards the bed and sat on the edge. "Would you like anything? Some food, drink, or-"_

_"I don't underst-"_

_"I am being nice here. So choose, before I change my mind, Ulquiorra."_

_Ulquiorra opened his mouth to give him a snippy response, but then closed his mouth, suddenly realising that Grimmjow was being sincere. He smiled slightly. "Well, I am a bit hungry... Is a bowl of porridge alright?"_

_Grimmjow grunted, scowling, but he gave Ulquiorra exactly what he requested. He stayed by Ulquiorra's side, constantly keeping watch and taking care of him, until the Cuarta got better._

She made him feel like caring for her.

_Grimmjow scowled. "Tch. You sure are stubborn. Come here, let me help you." He wrapped his arm around Kiorra's waist while the pale arrancar held onto Grimmjow's shoulder for support. Grimmjow half-carried Kiorra as he guided her to a bench to sit on. Once Kiorra was seated, he knelt down. "You okay?" he asked, concerned._

_"Yeah, I'm fine now," Kiorra breathed. "I'll just rest for a few minutes," she said edgily, a blush beginning to form on her face, "I should be- h-hey! Don't touch me there!"_

_Grimmjow rolled his eyes. His hands were on Kiorra's calves; the source of the Cuarta's nervousness. To be honest, touching her like this made his heart beat faster, nervousness clawing at him, but he did not show this. "Relax, Kiorra. I'm not gonna do anything if that's what you're so scared about. Geez." He slid his hands down Kiorra's calves slowly until they ended at her ankles, making her breath hitch, unknowingly sending jolts of electricity across the Cuarta's skin. "I'm just gonna see the damage."_

And though they rarely did it...

He had a knack for teasing him.

_Grimmjow and Ulquiorra walked in the hallway in silence. Since it was Ulquiorra's first time in Las Noches, Grimmjow wanted to show him around even though Ulquiorra said that there was no need. Grimmjow stopped in front of a white door that had a gothic, black number four painted on it._

_"Well, this is it. It's your new room."_

_"I see..." Ulquiorra murmured. "Thank you, Grimmjow."_

_"Heh. Anything else you need?"_

_Ulquiorra looked up at him, his gaze unwavering. "Careful, Grimmjow, keep on going out of your way for me and people will think that you like me."_

_Grimmjow flushed. _

_"Sh-shut up!" he spluttered, face red._

_The pale arrancar only smiled pleasantly, making the red on his face turn darker._

She had a knack of teasing him.

_"We forgot to buy cat litter."_

_"Why the hell do we need that for?" Grimmjow raised a teal eyebrow._

_"Well..." Kiorra stood up and picked up her heels, the pain in her feet completely forgotten. She looked at him. "You do need a place for you to do your kitty business."_

_Confusion crossed Grimmjow's handsome face and before he could figure out what Kiorra had meant, the Cuarta walked away, chuckling to herself. When understanding finally dawned on him, however, Grimmjow was not amused. "KIORRA CIFER!" he yelled, his face red. "THAT'S NOT FUNNY!"_

They made him feel like he was no longer alone

Grimmjow chuckled at the memories, stopped, then groaned, pressing his hand against his forehead hard, trying to push the thoughts out of his mind. Not this again. He closed his eyes. He did not know exactly how many times this thought process had gone through his mind. It was the same thing over and over again. It was always about Ulquiorra and Kiorra. All about them. And the memories that they had together.

He opened his eyes once more and drank from his drink miserably.

He had never felt so lost, confused, angry, sad, and a heck of a lot more at the same time.

He could not believe that he had just spent an entire day thinking about them again. And he _still_ could not understand any of this.

This sucks.

Grimmjow sighed, putting down his drink, and was about to get up when he saw something that made him stop. It was one of the shops that he and Kiorra had gone to to get her some accessories. The memory made the edges of his lips lift ever so slightly. Heh. He remembered what happened that day;

Kiorra had asked him for his help to put on a necklace on her. She looked especially cute that day, he remembered, but not in the best of moods because she did not enjoy doing anything as girly as shopping for accessories. Grimmjow had to practically drag her into the shop because she still maintained that she was not a "cross dresser", whatever that meant. While he put the necklace on her, he noticed that their faces were quite close and for a fleeting moment, the thought of leaning forward actually crossed his-

The teal-haired arrancar froze.

He groaned. Oh, that was it. Enough of this shit. He was going to settle this once and for all.

And the first person he was going to clear things with was with Kiorra.

"Oi, where are you going?" Renji said, startled, when Grimmjow began to walk away from their table.

"I'm just gonna go buy something. Just give me a sec."

* * *

By the time they were walking back to the hotel room that he and the Cuarta shared, it was already night time. Inside the box that Grimmjow held in his hands was the gift that he had bought for Kiorra at the mall. The thought of the talk that he was going to have with her was making his heart pound. Geez, what was he so scared about anyway? He was Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez, the Sexta Espada, the sixth strongest arrancar in that stupid Aizen's army. He had nothing to worry about.

Though it was not necessary to get her a gift, he supposed that it was only right to since he did give her a hard time.

...

Yeah, is it _that_ obvious that he hardly ever apologized to anyone?

He just hoped that the gift was not over the top. And that she would not throw it in his face.

Grimmjow took the key to the hotel room out of his pocket. If he was not mistaken, Kiorra was not back yet. She always came back a little late. Around nine. Once he had fitted the key inside the keyhole, Renji suddenly cleared his throat.

"What?" Grimmjow said grumpily, not even turning around to look at him.

What was he going to say to Kiorra when she came back? Damn, he did not know what to say. He could not just give her the damned gift like that. She would think that he wanted something from her. And getting a snippy comment from Kiorra was not something that he wanted to hear. Especially since his intention was especially sincere right now.

Still occupied with unlocking the door, the Sexta Espada did not even realize that his companion had drawn quite close to him.

Ah, damn, see? He was doing it again. He was thinking about her again. See how that woman just kept on popping up in his mind-

It was not until he could feel a pair of lips brush across the skin at the back of his neck ever so slightly and Renji's hands rest themselves on his toned abdomen did Grimmjow realize what was going on.

_What the hell_... Grimmjow thought angrily as he whirled on him, now facing the red-haired man with a scowl etched on his face, _Damn it, I'm not in the mood for this guy's shit._

Bad move.

"The fuck, Renji, can't you keep your damned hands to yourself for once, I-"

The next thing he knew, Renji had pressed his lips against his, kissing him, his hands now on Grimmjow's waist.

...!

He was so shocked that he did not even push Renji away. Not when Renji's tongue explored his wet cavern. Not when his hands had gone from staying put on his waist to slipping under his shirt. Not even when he was backed against the wall, Renji's lips pressing against the skin of his neck, then using his tongue to lick at it, leaving a hot trail in its wake.

"Grimmjow..." Renji whispered, his hands roaming, "Do you have any idea how I feel about you...?"

And still, no reaction.

However, Grimmjow did not stay shocked for too long. He snapped right out of that state the moment he felt a certain someone's hands place themselves on his ass and squeezed. Hard. And when that happened, a scowl made its way to his face and Grimmjow clenched his fists.

"Stop touching me, Renji," Grimmjow said warningly.

"Why?" Renji still had his hands on his ass.

"Because I fucking said so."

"But, Grimmjow, I-"

"Stop. Touching. Me."

"But I haven't even told you that I lo-"

Grimmjow's eye twitched.

Fuck that bastard Aizen's order on not hurting these idiots unless necessary.

HIS VIRGINITY WAS AT STAKE, DAMMIT.

Grimmjow kicked him in the groin.

* * *

Ulquiorra looked at the watch. It was quite late. Midnight, even.

"Ichigo," he said, "Are you sure that your father doesn't mind me staying over here for so long?"

The orange-haired teen shrugged. "Nah, he doesn't mind. In fact, he's ecstatic that I now have a girlfriend," Ichigo responded, rolling his eyes, "And also, he likes you." He smiled at Ulquiorra fondly.

"I see..."

The smile on Ichigo's face dropped slightly when he saw how gloomy Kiorra looked. Though she tried to hide it, her mask did not fool him. She must have fought with Grimmjow again. There was no other reason for it. Ever since that little incident a week ago, she seemed extremely subdued. So much that he delayed telling her what he wanted to tell her a week before. He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but then closed his mouth, deciding against it. Now was not yet the time.

Ulquiorra leaned against Ichigo's shoulder and continued to watch the DVD that they had just rented awhile ago. The movie was nearly over. And once it was over, he could go back to the hotel room that he shared with Grimmjow.

Grimmjow...

Ulquiorra wondered what he was doing right now?

* * *

Grimmjow sat on the couch and wiped his mouth for what must have been the hundredth time in the span of a few hours. Ugh. Disgusting. He could not believe that that Renji would actually do such a thing. The memory of that man's tongue pushing its way into his mouth made him shudder. Grimmjow shivered.

And not only did Renji have the gall to kiss him, he actually had the balls to squeeze Grimmjow's ass.

He made a face. If that guy ever tried to do something funny like that again, Grimmjow was going to chop off his manhood, not just kick at it. Mission or not, he did not care. He was not going to let some guy that he did not give a shit about grope him.

Grimmjow sat back on the couch, and looked at the box that contained Kiorra's gift. The box sat all by its lonesome on the coffee table. He looked at the clock, his mind slowly forgetting the event that had taken place not too long ago in front of the hotel room door.

Nine o'clock.

_Kiorra should be coming back right about now._

The Sexta went to the kitchen to grab a glass of water before returning to the couch, his heart beating fast against his ribcage from pure nervousness. Well, this was it, wasn't it? It was about time that he and Kiorra had a talk, and to end this fight that they were having.

Now, all he needed to do was to wait.

And so Grimmjow waited.

_Kiorra..._

And waited.

The clock struck ten.

_What's taking you so long?_

Grimmjow fidgeted on his seat. He did not want to think about what she could be doing. He knew that she was out obeying Aizen's orders by spending time with that Kurosaki. He just did not want to think, or even know what she was doing with Kurosaki.

The clock struck eleven.

_Where the hell are you?_

The clock struck twelve.

She could not be in trouble, could she...? Grimmjow shook his head. Nah, couldn't be. Kiorra may be a woman, but she was the Cuarta Espada; she did not get that rank for nothing. Grimmjow was beginning to feel exhaustion claw at the corners of his being. How much longer did he have to wait...?

The clock struck one.

Kiorra... Could she not be coming back because she did not want to see him? Grimmjow's grip on his new glass of water was starting to loosen. Well, he supposed that that should be expected since he did snap at her this morning... It_ was_ his fault.

The clock struck two.

He must have tried calling her cell phone dozens of times only to reach her voicemail. Was she ignoring him?

By the time the clock struck three, and the door to the hotel room opened, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez was already fast asleep.

* * *

When Ulquiorra saw him, he was startled.

"Grimmjow," he said softly, making his way to him.

Grimmjow had not changed out of his clothes and he looked positively exhausted. The Sexta shifted in his sleep, and shivered. Ulquiorra sighed. Even the lights were still on.

_You're such a child sometimes_, he thought, caressing the side of Grimmjow's face. He bit his bottom lip. It was funny how the only way he was able to touch Grimmjow like this was when he was fast asleep. _So cold..._ Ulquiorra withdrew, disappearing into his room before returning with a blanket in his hands.

"Here you go," he murmured, covering Grimmjow with the blanket, making sure to pull it up to his chest. Almost immediately, Grimmjow snuggled against the blanket, feeling warm, a peaceful look gracing his features. Seeing this almost made Ulquiorra smile. "Good night, Grimmjow." The Sexta looked so calm and innocent in his sleep that Ulquiorra was almost tempted to press his lips against his forehead.

Pushing that thought out of his mind, Ulquiorra Cifer stood up once more, switched off the lights and left for his room.

He did not even see the box that was on the coffee table.

Grimmjow shifted in his sleep, clutching at the blanket. _Warm..._

_

* * *

_

My love for GrimmUlqui is back~!

**FACEBOOK FANPAGE:** I got nominated as author of the month on a Facebook fanpage. If you have a Facebook account and would like to vote for me, the link is available on my profile. It's in my "NEWS" announcement section. :D Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone who has supported me (and to Amanda for nominating me *hugs*) so far. Thank you very much! -And yes, if you see a Melissa Kartini in the comments, that's me-

**DOTMOON AWARDS:** I know I've never mentioned this anywhere on my account or fics, but some of my fics were nominated for the DotMoon Best of Fandom Awards of 2009 (link to site is on my profile). Though I did not win, I would like to thank everyone who nominated, seconded and voted for me :) I don't know if anyone thinks that my fics are good enough to parcipate for 2010 or any of the years in the future, but I'd like to take this as motivation to become an even better writer.

I love you all *hearts* Your reviews, favourites, alerts... they all make my day and make me want to write more. So yes, thank you very much x3 A very huge thank you goes to thPeekaBoo for encouraging me all the time. Your opinion is gold to me :) Also, university has started, the schedule is crazy and the assignments are killing me. Please bear with me and my slow updates. And so ends my longest A/N~ xD


	10. This is it

By the time Grimmjow woke up the next morning, it was nearly lunch time.

_Fuck... _Grimmjow thought moodily as the sunlight that seeped through the gap between the curtains pricked at his eyes,_ I gotta stop waking up so damned late..._

He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes, pulling himself out from slumber reluctantly. Upon scanning his surroundings, he found that everything was pretty much the way it was before he fell asleep. Even the box that he had meant to give to Kiorra last night still sat on the coffee table, untouched. Damn. He sat up on the couch. Did that woman even come back- He stopped, feeling something slide off of him as he sat up.

He looked down.

_A blanket...?_

Grimmjow gripped the beige blanket, a small smile descending upon his lips.

_Kiorra..._

But when he got up to look for her, she was nowhere to be found. Kiorra had already left their hotel room.

* * *

Ichigo Kurosaki had been unable to sit still since last night. During dinner, he kept fidgeting on his seat, causing his father to get distressed - but then again, that man gets distressed easily. When it was time to sleep, he kept tossing and turning in his bed. And when morning came, he was still wide-awake; he did not get a wink of sleep the night before. Rukia, who had lived with and known him long enough knew that something was plaguing his mind. As a friend, she was concerned, but when he did not answer any of her questions, she let him be. She knew that he would talk to her when he was ready. It was only if his behaviour were to persist that she would kick him into talking.

Renji, on the other hand, did not notice the change in Ichigo. The red-haired shinigami was so miserable that he probably would not notice if a meteor hit the house across the street. He honestly could not understand why his sweet, sweet princess was so angry with him.

"Ichigo... Why do you think princess hates me...?" Renji whined. "Is it because our hair colours clash or something...?"

Ichigo's right eye actually twitched. He shuddered. "For fuck's sake, will you not call that guy a 'princess' of all things?" he said, wrinkling his nose, "It's creepy."

"No, it isn't! It's cute!"

"..."

"What?"

"... Let me rephrase that sentence; _you're _creepy."

What Renji said in rebuttal, though, Ichigo did not know, because he leaned back against the couch and tuned the man out.

Ichigo fingered his Substitute Shinigami badge that he kept in his pocket, tracing its surface with his finger as he thought. Was he doing the right thing...? He knew that he liked, heck, maybe even, dare he say it, loved, Kiorra Cifer that he was willing to do this for her. He just did not want to lie to her. Not anymore. He hated lying to her.

But still... He did not want her to get involved with this kind of life either. But again, he did not want to lie to her.

He had been having this debate with himself for quite some time now. These two arguments would be tossed to and fro in his head for hours, only to not reach a conclusion in the end. But finally, finally, yesterday, he came to a decision. And with that decision, he started to second-guess himself, and once again, the argument started up in his mind. Was this the right thing to do? Or was it wrong? Maybe he should just back out?

If he was really going to go through with this, he had yet another problem to worry about. There was a fifty percent chance that Kiorra would not be able to see him, so maybe he should not worry so much...

However, if she were to see him, and freaked out, what was he going to-

_Knock, knock, knock._

Oh, fuuu-

Ichigo stood up and went to answer the door, a feeling of dread at the pit of his stomach. That feeling of dread only increased when he opened the door and saw Kiorra standing at the doorstep, having promised that she would meet him today.

"Ichigo..." she said, that pleasant smile on her face present, "Hey..."

"H-Hey," Ichigo greeted her back once he finally found his voice. And before he could start second guessing himself again, he lightly grasped her hand and tugged it, leading her inside the house. "Come on in... There is something that I want to talk to you about."

* * *

When Ulquiorra switched on and checked his cell phone that morning, he found that he had gotten about a dozen of missed calls from Grimmjow. Seeing the number of missed calls made him stare at the screen for a couple of seconds in disbelief. Weren't he and Grimmjow not on speaking terms right now? Something important must have come up for the man to want to talk to Ulquiorra.

But even then, he did not wake the Sexta Espada up from his sleep when he was about to go out to meet Kurosaki Ichigo. Grimmjow just looked so tired that he did not have the heart to wake him up. That, and because he did not want to talk to Grimmjow. For all he knew, Grimmjow could have made those calls so that he could argue with Ulquiorra some more.

However, Grimmjow was not the only one who had tried reaching Ulquiorra the night before.

Amongst all the missed calls that Ulquiorra had received, he saw that Szayel Aporro Granz had tried contacting him as well.

Curious as to what the pink-haired genius had to say – though he already had a feeling that he knew what the call was about – Ulquiorra returned his call while Ichigo was in the kitchen.

Even though he knew that Szayel probably wanted to talk to him about the progress he was making on the cure, what Szayel told Ulquiorra left him speechless. Even now, as Kurosaki held his hands, and talked about his feelings for Ulquiorra and other things that Ulquiorra could not find in himself to give a damn about – _I'm s__orry, Kurosaki, but I really don't care for your love, even if I act like it –_ he did not respond. Ulquiorra was subdued throughout the whole thing, and when Kurosaki pressed his lips against his, Ulquiorra did nothing. Kurosaki's lips were warm, compared to Ulquiorra's cold ones, but they did nothing for him. They did not make him _feel_.

"_I'll see you later in the afternoon. Is that alright, Ulquiorra?" Szayel said over the phone, "Have you gotten everything done?"_

"_No, not yet," Ulquiorra responded, "But I'll tell you when it'll be alright for you to come over."_

"_You'd better."_

The day had finally come, hm?

Ulquiorra knew that this would happen, and yet, he could not quite believe it. He should not be surprised, really. This was Szayel that he was talking about. He may be crazy, but he was still a genius.

"Kiorra..." Ichigo loosened his grip on Ulquiorra's hands, a sombre expression taking over his features. "There is something that I need to show you."

Ulquiorra merely nodded in response. He did not say anything when Ichigo Kurosaki took out his Substitute Shinigami badge. Did not say anything when the boy pushed his own soul out of his body. Did not say anything as reiatsu filled the room. Did not say anything when the orange-haired teen stood before him, clad in his black shinigami uniform. With the boy in this state, Ulquiorra quickly and silently analysed his reiatsu.

"_Make sure you'll be there! I don't want to wait for you or make the same trip twice!"_

This was it.

He was finally able to do what he had set out to do when Aizen sent him on this mission.

_I am definitely going to be there. Don't you fret, Szayel._

* * *

Aizen Sousuke was bored. Very, very bored. As much as he loved to sit on his throne sipping tea the entire day, it has lost its appeal. There was simply nothing interesting that he could do or see here in Las Noches. Here in this building, it was nothing but endless white with nothing remotely attractive to add to it. The most interesting thing that could be done was to play around with those pills that had turned Ulquiorra into a female. What was not fun - disturbing, for some, but definitely fun for Aizen - about seeing a couple of men sprout a pair of funbags?

That, however, was a bust.

Not only did Ichimaru refuse to consume those pills, but when everyone had gotten wind of the fact that Aizen wanted to turn some people into females, all of the male arrancars in Las Noches had made it a point to avoid the brown-haired shinigami.

Heck, it seemed that even Tousen was avoiding him; the man had taken to locking the surveillance room and would always excuse himself should he sense Aizen coming. Why it was such a problem, Aizen did not know. It was not like Tousen could even_ see_ his breasts if Aizen were to turn him into a woman. Seriously. Nor would he be able to see his penis magically disappear. That man was making a big deal out of nothing.

Only the female population did not mind being in Aizen's presence. Not that Aizen minded, really.

Of course, Aizen could have just ordered any of the male residents to consume the pill, but it just was not that fun if they were not willing.

Oh, if only Ulquiorra was here...

Harribel's breasts were far too big, but Ulquiorra's were just nice... Still big, but smaller than hers. Hmm...

Beside him walked Ichimaru Gin. After taking just one look on Aizen's face, he could immediately tell what that man was thinking. He rolled his eyes.

"Figures..."

As they neared the entrance to Szayel's laboratory, Aizen shrugged, figuring that since he had nothing else to do, he might as well check up on the scientist's progress on creating a cure for Ulquiorra. With that thought in mind, he opened the door to the laboratory. Expecting to see the usual scene of Szayel looking extremely frustrated as he tore the papers that he had written on, Aizen was surprised to see that Szayel actually had a cheery grin on his face.

"Oh, hello, Aizen-sama!" Szayel greeted him just as he ended his call with Ulquiorra.

Aizen blinked.

"Hel... lo..." he greeted back, "... May I ask why you're so happy, Szayel?"

As if on cue, Ichimaru Gin appeared by Aizen's shoulder. "Yes, Szay-chan, do tell~"

Szayel smiled, not minding the nickname at all. He brought up the bottle of pills that he was holding so that both Aizen and Ichimaru could see it plainly. The pills were a light blue in colour and the bottle glinted under the lights of the laboratory.

"This," Szayel said triumphantly, "Is why I am happy."

"Eh?" Ichimaru took the bottle from Szayel's hand, examined it, and then shook it, making the pills collide with each other, as though expecting them to do something. Glow, explode, anything. When they did not, Ichimaru blinked, looking almost disappointed. "What are these supposed to do?"

"Change Ulquiorra back into his normal form," Szayel said proudly.

Ichimaru looked at the pills in the bottle for a long while before saying, "It really doesn't take much to make you happy now, does it?"

Szayel snatched the bottle from Ichimaru's hand, miffed. "Give me that!"

"Oh, I didn't know that you're so sensitive, Szay-chan~" Ichimaru said teasingly.

"Shut up," he sniffed, annoyed that his achievement was not getting the acknowledgement that it deserved. He had been working on this cure for a long time now! Did Ichimaru think that doing this sort of thing is easy? Szayel pocketed the bottle. "I need to go in awhile. I have to go to the Real World."

"For...?" Ichimaru asked.

"To meet Ulquiorra, of course. Since he has already completed his mission, he wants to change back into a male," Szayel answered smoothly, missing the look of disappointment on Aizen's face.

* * *

By the time Szayel Aporro Grantz left, the depressed aura that filled Las Noches was so suffocating that arrancars could not help but ask Ichimaru what was wrong whenever they happened to see Aizen. They had never seen their leader look so down before. Aizen has always been a strong, charismatic leader so to see him like this was abnormal. When they offered him tea, he actually_ refused_ to drink it, much to their surprise. If Aizen does not want to drink tea, then there _must _be something wrong.

"Ah, him?" Ichimaru would shrug and say dismissively to each and every one of them, "He's just depressed because Kiorra-chan will be leaving soon."

* * *

Szayel looked around as he stepped out of the Garganta. His hand was in his pocket, keeping a firm hold on the bottle. He would dare say that Ulquiorra would most certainly have his head if he were to lose it now. Even though he did not really show it, the Cuarta Espada must be desperate to turn into a male again. It must not be very pleasant to be in such an inconvenient body for... How long had it been again since Ulquiorra turned into a female?

He had lost count.

And then there was the entire matter between Ulquiorra and Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez... He was willing to bet his entire life's research that Ulquiorra and Grimmjow did not even confront each other even though they have been living together for quite some time now. Szayel shook his head. Those two really are hopeless when it comes to confronting their emotions.

Szayel sighed, choosing to sit on the bench while he waited for Ulquiorra. He was still quite early. Ulquiorra would come along in awhile, he was sure of it.

To pass the time, Szayel watched the humans that were at the park go about their daily lives. Some of the younger ones were playing at the playground, some of the older ones were out for a walk, some of them were just like him, sitting on benches. _Hmm..._ Szayel thought idly when he saw a few children playing on the swings. He wondered if Aizen-sama would mind if he were to take some of these people as test subjects...

* * *

In the hotel room, Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez had just finished taking a shower. He stepped out of the bathroom with his hair dripping wet, and a towel wrapped around his waist. Today, he did not even go out of the hotel room, choosing to remain inside. He did not want to be out when Kiorra returned. That, and because he did not want to deal with Abarai Renji should Grimmjow ever have the misfortune to bump into him again. Honestly... That man... Grimmjow shuddered. If he did not smack the snot out of that guy... who knew what would have happened? Last night was too close for his liking. Too fucking close.

He sat down on the edge of the bed, sighing.

On the bedside table, was the gift box for Kiorra. Since he had missed her last night, he was going to have to wait for her to return again.

Hopefully, Kiorra would not blow up in his face, and that they would not have another blazing row. But since Kiorra actually covered him with a blanket while he was asleep, she must not be that angry anymore.

_Kiorra..._ Grimmjow picked up the box, rubbing one of the edges with his thumb. Heh. Even after that long debate with himself last night, hell if he knew what he really felt about that woman.

His dreams, all that bullshit about soul mates, his feelings and all of that jazz...

This was all so fucked up. So so fucked up.

All of these things... They got him thinking. It is possible for a person to have feelings for two people at once, right? But, is it possible for a person to _love_ two people at the same time? And not just the type of love that you have for your family and friends, but the type of love that you would have towards a lover. Is that possible? Or was he just confused? Torn between what his dreams and what his feelings were telling him?

At the beginning, it was all so simple.

There was only one person that he dreamed about. Only one person that he had feelings for. Only one person he might love.

Now, there were two people he dreamed about. Two people that he had feelings for. Two people that he might love.

That is not right, right?

Things are not supposed to be that way.

... Right?

Now, let's just say that Grimmjow was in love with both Ulquiorra and Kiorra.

This is just an example, alright? It has absolutely nothing to do with Grimmjow's true feelings. It is just that it is so much easier to say "He loves them" than to say "He has feelings for them" over and over again.

Just an example.

Okay?

Okay.

So here we go.

So, Grimmjow loved Ulquiorra and Kiorra, and he wanted to confess his feelings. He wanted to tell Ulquiorra that he loved him. But, he also wanted to tell Kiorra that he loved her. But if he were to tell either one of them, he would lose the other, which he did not want to happen. And if he confessed to both... He highly doubted that Ulquiorra and Kiorra would appreciate that. He would lose both of them. Not only that, those two might personally make it a point to make his life miserable. Or to kill him.

But that is beside the point.

The point is, did he love them, or was it just his mind playing tricks on him? Was he just confused?

So.

Ulquiorra.

Or Kiorra?

Or was it both?

"Damn it..." Grimmjow groaned, rubbing his temple.

He did it again. He was making himself feel confused all over again. Something so easy to do if he were to think about Ulquiorra and Kiorra.

Well, whatever it is that he felt, he was going to have a talk with Kiorra anyway. He could always figure out his feelings later.

... Right?

But what if... Oh, fuck. He was doing it again. Again with the Ulquiorra and Kiorra argument.

You know what?

Call him an asshole, but... He _might_ just love them both. And it was this crap that was twisting inside of him, making him feel like a lowlife-scumbag. He just could not understand why he was feeling this way. Nor could he accept it. Things were not supposed to be this way, yet, they were.

But now, that did not matter. He would sort out the bullshit with his fucked up feelings later.

Now, he needed to make things right with Kiorra.

* * *

Each step that Ulquiorra took towards the place that he had agreed to meet Szayel at grew heavier as he neared it.

The wind caressed his skin, the sound of each step he took resounded in his ears, the fact that he was no longer going to have to live in this body... He thought of none of these. He should be happy. He was not going to have to be a woman any longer. This was what he had been waiting for ever since he woke up that one confounded morning. And yet... He could not bring himself to feel even an ounce of happiness. Not one bit.

Instead of feeling happy for himself, he was thinking about what he was leaving behind.

By returning back to his normal self, he was not only leaving behind his identity as Kiorra Cifer, but he was also leaving behind what he had built with Grimmjow.

All of those memories, those times spent together with the Sexta, those smiles shared, those arguments... it was all with a person known as Kiorra to Grimmjow. All of them. Though they were going through what could be called a "rough patch" right now, they had formed a bond. And Ulquiorra knew that they would be able to work it out somehow. But by returning to "Ulquiorra Cifer", he would be going back to square one. A situation where he and Grimmjow did not have a very good relationship, where they hated each other, where Grimmjow thought nothing of him. Where they considered each other as enemies.

This was what he was returning to if he became Ulquiorra Cifer again, and left Kiorra behind.

He knew that he could not continue living as Kiorra, as someone he was not, but at the same time...

_Why is everything so complicated?_

An inaudible sigh escaped Ulquiorra's lips as Szayel Aporro Granz appeared in his view.

Upon seeing the Cuarta Espada, Szayel immediately got up from the bench that he was sitting on. The scientist was clad in his usual, tight-fitting Espada uniform.

"Ulquiorra..." Szayel greeted once Ulquiorra was near, "You're here. Right on time, as usual."

"Of course," Ulquiorra responded.

"I assume that you are looking forward to losing that troublesome female body in favour for your old one~?" Szayel said with a sly smile. Without even waiting for a reply, Szayel reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle of pills. "Here you go~!" he exclaimed as he brandished the bottle to Ulquiorra proudly. "Just take these and you'll turn back to normal!"

Szayel. An all too smug look adorned the scientist's face.

This was the man that was the cause of all his trouble, and to a certain extent, happiness?

He was the reason why Ulquiorra was the way he was right now. Without him, Ulquiorra would have already confronted Grimmjow and he would not have to deal with such a form. He should be happy that Szayel had created a cure. He really should. The Octava had done week upon weeks of research and work just to create this cure for him, and he could not even muster up a smile. Even though it was Szayel's fault to begin with, but...

Ulquiorra watched listlessly as Szayel took two of the blue pills out of the bottle. He was talking but Ulquiorra did not hear a word. He just looked at the innocent-looking pills that lay on the palm of Szayel's hand. However, from the tone in Szayel's voice, he could tell that the man was extremely proud of his achievement.

So he had to take two of these in order to return to normal, huh...?

When Ulquiorra did not make any response even though Szayel had been talking for a full five minutes about how he created the cure, the scientist threw a dirty look at the Cuarta and would have well made a scathing remark if not for the melancholic look on Ulquiorra's face. Szayel blinked, surprised. He had expected a much different reaction from Ulquiorra. He did not expect a grin from the stoic Espada, but at the very least, a small smile. Not this.

"Hey..." Szayel said slowly, "What's wrong...?"

"Hm?" Ulquiorra slowly lifted his gaze from the blue pills to look into amber eyes. He kept silent.

Szayel tried again. "Did something happen...?"

"... No," Ulquiorra lied, "Nothing happened."

"But..."

"There is nothing wrong," his superior said more firmly and with so much finality that Szayel did not dare to ask further.

"Alright then..." Szayel hesitated. Hell if he knew what was going on with Ulquiorra, but he had a feeling that it involved Grimmjow. Perhaps Ulquiorra and Grimmjow had gotten into yet another argument? "Since you seem to have a lot on your mind right now, are you sure you want to take these pills now? You can always take them some other time, you know..."

"Szayel. I have made up my mind," Ulquiorra said calmly. He took the pills from Szayel's hand. "I'm taking these, and I'm turning back to normal."

* * *

_Well, Kiorra?_

_I'm waiting for you._

* * *

**DIOR:** To everyone that reviewed the previous chapters, thank you! I can't believe that I forgot my own story. I had to reread this fic in order to write it again OTL. Which is why it took me so long to update it after I started my break a few weeks ago. So sorry, everyone. I hope I'll be able to finish this fic before my next semester starts, or this fic will be well over two years old by the time I do :( *doesn't write when university is in session* I hope this chapter is alright. Since it has been so long since I've written this, I was as confused as Grimmjow when I wrote it. The fact that his feelings are very difficult to portray since they're so complicated didn't help either. X_X Reviews are appreciated.


	11. Our Princesses

_Twenty-four hours, huh?_

At least, that was what Szayel said. That Ulquiorra had to put up with this female body for twenty-four more hours before the pills would take effect and change him back into his original, and very much male form.

_After consuming the pills, before Ulquiorra could even open his mouth and ask, Szayel answered smoothly, "Twenty-four hours. That's how long you have left as a woman, Ulquiorra. After that, you will turn back into a male. So if you have any business that you would like to attend to and can only attend to in this form, do it now before your twenty-four hours are up, alright?"_

_Ulquiorra took all of this information in silently, still not quite in a talkative mood. He gave a curt nod._

_"Oh, and when turning back, you might feel a bit of a pinch. Don't worry, though. Since you're the Cuatro Espada, it'll probably feel like nothing to you."_

_"Hm... Alright. Noted. Thank you, Szayel."_

Ulquiorra looked down at his hands, feeling no different than before he had taken those pills. These feminine hands that he had been made to live with for weeks... months? After spending quite some time in this body, suddenly waking up without those troublesome breasts that could pass off as flotation devices - of course, he was exaggerating... maybe - and the absence of that lonely feeling in between his legs would be... strange. Becoming a male again would mean that he was saying goodbye to the days where he had to wear pads – _and if needed_, Ulquiorra thought with a shudder,_ tampons_ – dresses, mini skirts, bikinis, high heels, make-up, accessories, shaving his legs and armpits, experiencing mood swings, menstrual cramps and having his privates waxed.

... He had to wax in order to wear skimpy bikinis. Don't judge.

And while we're at it, don't even _dare_ imagine it.

He had to say, though... _ouch_. Women are mad to go through such torture. Willingly.

Other than the blinkingly obvious things that he was going to say goodbye to, he was also going to say goodbye to the bond he had built with Grimmjow as Kiorra Cifer. In just a matter of hours. It all felt surreal.

All that time. Right from the moment he had found out that he had turned into a woman.

_Once he had made sure that his hair was free from tangles, he unbuttoned his top and discarded it to the floor. He needed to shower. As if on cue, his eyes began to focus and he found himself staring at his reflection open-mouthed, eyes wide in a mixture of shock and horror._

_It was at that very moment that Ulquiorra learned that he had somehow sprouted tits overnight. The whole of Hueco Mundo must have heard the scream that emitted from Ulquiorra Cifer's room._

When he had decided on his female name.

_"Well? What will your female name be, Ulquiorra?" the brown-haired shinigami said, bringing the emerald eyed Espada out of his thoughts._

_Ulquiorra placed a finger to his chin and thought. Finally, he said, "Kiorra."_

When he got his first period.

_When he passed by the bathroom mirror, Ulquiorra noticed something that made him stop and stare in horror for the second time that day._

_Oh, God, no. Oh, God, please let this not be real._

_Because right there at the back of his pants was a huge red stain. By the looks of it and from what the Octava had explained to him on the subject, it could only mean one thing; Ulquiorra had gotten his first period._

When he first put on a bra.

_No matter how he twisted and turned, he could not get the damned thing __on__._

_As annoying as he found this, he was not going to give up. The last thing he wanted to do was to be braless under his top, letting people "see" what was going on underneath. Ulquiorra struggled some more with the clasp and finally, __finally __after a few minutes of torture, he heard a soft 'click', telling him that he had the bra on securely._

_Yes!_

When he first had to work on this mission with Grimmjow.

_"Urmm… Hello, Grimmjow," Kiorra said timidly. "I guess that we will be working together from now on." She laughed nervously._

And so much more.

In just a few hours, it would be like those things had never happened. And honestly, thinking about those memories now, he did not know whether he should laugh or cry.

He leaned back against the bench that he sat on, trying to relax. Szayel had left the park about two hours ago, and he, Ulquiorra, had been sitting here ever since, in a daze. He had his cell phone turned off, since he did not want to have to deal with Grimmjow, or anyone, really, right now. Not even Aizen-sama – _please forgive me, Aizen-sama, but I cannot deal with your constant questions about whether I am absolutely sure that I really want to become male again_. He just... He just needed to be alone right now. And he was definitely going to put off going back to the hotel room until the very last minute. Ulquiorra was quite sure that Grimmjow would be waiting there, in a bad mood, ready to pick a fight with him.

_Really..._

The raven-haired Arrancar kicked at his feet lightly, wishing that time would pass by more quickly. Twenty-four hours seems like an eternity, especially when you are waiting. He sighed. Well, he supposed that he had dawdled here long enough. When Szayel had mentioned the matter of unfinished business, the first thing that leapt to his mind was Kurosaki. And this matter was one of the reasons that he was dawdling here. But, he would have to get up and meet Kurosaki sometime.

Remembering the way Ichigo Kurosaki kept gazing at him with that sickening look full of emotion that could only be described as love, Ulquiorra just knew that his meeting with Ichigo would not go too well. It was hard to imagine it ending with flowers and sunshine.

Kurosaki was definitely going to be upset.

_Oh, boy..._ Ulquiorra thought dully. _This is going to be fun..._

He reluctantly and slowly pulled his cell phone out of his handbag, turned it on and dialled the boy's number. He ignored the numerous calls and messages from both Aizen and Grimmjow.

Ulquiorra just hoped that there would not be any tears from the boy.

* * *

Apparently, if God existed, then he must not like Grimmjow very much, because even though he was in the safety of the hotel room he shared with Kiorra, that still did not save him from the danger that was Abarai Renji. Grimmjow was pacing around the room when he suddenly heard someone yell from the street below. He lifted his gaze from the carpeted floor to look outside the window, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He could have sworn that he knew that voice. But still, it couldn't be. Especially not after what had happened last time. When silence ensued after the yell, Grimmjow shrugged and looked away from the window, putting it all down to his imagination. There was no way that that guy could have come all the way here just to-

"PRINCESS...!"

_What the hell!_

Grimmjow scrambled towards the window.

"WHERE ARE YOU?"

When Grimmjow reached the window and looked down, his eyes nearly popped out of its sockets. There, right on the street stood Abarai Renji, who, upon seeing Grimmjow, immediately brightened up and grinned, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet as he held a rather large sign under one of his arms, excited. And if possible, Renji yelled even louder than before – so loudly that Grimmjow was almost positive that the whole of Karakura Town must have heard him;

"PRINCESS! PRINCESS! PRINCESS!"

_Holy fuck!_

"The hell are you doing here?" Grimmjow shouted, more astonished by what Renji was doing than the fact that he was calling Grimmjow "Princess", of all things.

Seriously, of all times that that idiot could have picked to see Grimmjow, Renji just_ had_ to pick the time when Grimmjow did not want to see the red-haired man ever again.

"I'm here to win my Princess back!"

_Win my Princess back...?_

Those words made him shudder. Grimmjow actually felt himself die a little on the inside.

Then he noticed something. Renji's cheeks were flushed, and he seemed to be a bit unstable on his feet.

"Are you _drunk_?" Grimmjow said incredulously.

"I don't know," Renji said. "But I know that I'm winning you back."

Grimmjow growled. "Fuck, man, you never won me in the first place, now piss off! I'm not some sorta trophy! And quit calling me Princess. It's creepy."

"No, don't be so mean! Princess is a cute name!" Renji whined. Then, he suddenly brightened up once more, having gotten an idea that might just work to get him on Grimmjow's good side. "This, Princess. Look here, Princess! I made this just for you!"

It was then that Renji held up the sign that he was holding and waved it above his head in time with his yells of "Princess". The sign said, in horrifying pink, huge, cursive writing, "I love you, Gurimujō". Grimmjow had to fling an arm over his eyes just to protect them from being raped any further by the sign. It even had glitter all over it, and it glinted under the sun, blinding those who happened to look at it. It was_ that_ horrible.

_You have got to be kidding me!_

"I'm so sorry about last night, Princess!"

Oh, good, God, this guy was _embarrassing_. Practically everyone passing by the street was looking at them, and they kept snickering at Grimmjow. If Aizen did not forbid Grimmjow and Ulquiorra from harming these idiots, there would have long been bloodshed.

"I promise you, I will _not _grope your butt again!"

More snickers from the crowd that had begun to gather around Renji.

Growling, Grimmjow grabbed the lamp on the nearest table. The fact that he would have to pay for it later, be damned. "Grope this, fucker!" He pulled his arm back, then sent the lamp whistling through the air in Renji's direction. It connected with Renji's forehead with a satisfying CRACK. To anyone else, the sound would have been considered sickening, but to Grimmjow, it was music to his ears. "At least spell my damned name right! Now, piss the hell off and shut up!" Grimmjow all but screamed at a now howling Renji before slamming the windows shut, shutting out the noise that was the red-haired man's voice. "Geez... Can't even get any damned peace even though I'm already dead..."

* * *

Ichigo had just pulled on his jacket when something heavy suddenly barrelled into him.

"MY SON...!" Isshin cried, flinging his arms around Ichigo. "Are you going to see your girlfriend, no, future wife again? Make sure to wear condoms!"

"The hell!" Red-faced, Ichigo slammed his fist into Isshin's gut, causing the older man to stumble back with a cry. "How many times have I told you not to do that?"

"B-but... son...!"

"But, nothing! Now calm the hell down, old man!"

The neighbours, who were already used to Ichigo and Isshin's constant fights, did not even bat an eyelid when they heard Ichigo scream at Isshin, nor did they seem surprised when they heard a door being slammed shut – they merely went on with their daily lives as usual, unaffected. Ichigo Kurosaki on the other hand, had stormed out of his house, his face still red from when his father made a totally inappropriate comment about him and Kiorra. If not for the fact that this fight was about his girlfriend, this scene would have been counted as part of the daily lives of the Kurosaki family.

Seriously, was his father actually the only one who would get_ that _hyped up over the fact that his child had gotten a girlfriend?

His cheeks still flushed, Ichigo stomped down the street angrily, pounding his anger away upon the innocent pavement until it finally faded, taken over by anxiety. His walk slowed down as well, and the expression on his face softened. If people were to see him now, they would not suspect that mere minutes before, he had been screaming his lungs out at his father. But now that he had gotten away from his infuriating father, his thoughts returned once more to his emerald-eyed girlfriend.

He pulled his jacket closer, his expression downcast.

Kiorra did not sound very happy when she called him just now. If anything, she sounded rather serious.

Normally, he would have put this down to her having a fight with her brother, Grimmjow, but after what had happened yesterday, he doubted that this was the case.

_Was it a mistake...?_ Ichigo wondered. Was it a mistake that he, Ichigo Kurosaki, had chosen to reveal his second identity to Kiorra Cifer?

"_Alright." Ichigo breathed, taking in deep, calming breaths to slow down his fast beating heart. This was it. He was going to tell Kiorra everything. Before he could second guess himself like he had done for what felt like months, he quickly shoved his hand into his pocket, then pulled out his Substitute Shinigami Badge. He could tell that Kiorra could see the item because her gaze immediately latched onto it, fixated, watching it dangle between his fingers, following its movements. She did not say a word, though. "You can see this?" he asked, almost in disbelief._

_She nodded._

_Well... he supposed that he should not have been surprised. He knew that his friends managed to see souls after being around him for awhile._

_Not sensing anything amiss, Ichigo slammed the badge against his chest and pushed his soul out of his body. Kiorra did not even flinch when his lifeless body fell smack to the floor, nor did she bat an eyelid when he appeared before her, garbed in his black Shinigami uniform, and his overly large zanpaktou hanging across his back. He did, however, find it a bit strange that she did not even seem overwhelmed by his reiatsu, not in the slightest, but he did not voice it. Perhaps she had more power than he gave her credit for._

_He smiled sheepishly. "Hey?"_

_Kiorra neared him, squeezed his hand gently, and gave him a soft look that clearly said "Go on"._

When thinking about Kiorra's reaction when he had had finished displaying his abilities to her, he could not help but feel that perhaps something was wrong. Did he freak her out? No, she was much too calm at the time. Extremely calm. She had watched him slip out of his body, watched his lifeless body fall to the floor unceremoniously, watched him unsheathe his zanpaktou, watched him demonstrate and explain his powers... She had watched all of this with an all too calm expression on her face. Was this sort of reaction normal? He knew that it sure as hell was not because even his best friends, when they had gotten to know his secret, did not take it as calmly as she did. She should have at least displayed a bit of surprise, especially for someone who had not even known him for a year.

At first, he was relieved that she did not freak out. But now, he could not help being worried.

"_Kiorra?"_

"_Yes, Ichigo?"_

"_Is this... This doesn't change anything between us, right...?"_

_She shook her head calmly. "No," was all she said._

Not normal. Not, not, not, so not normal. Was she mad at him? Did she hate him for lying to her all this time? Did she think he was a weirdo? Or did she simply not care? Or was he just being paranoid? Fuck, he seriously could not understand her! What was going on in that pretty little head of hers? He would have felt better if she had said something, _anything _about it, but to give him little to no reaction? What the hell was that? What the hell was that supposed to _mean_? All of these questions were driving him crazy! Damn it, Kiorra!

And now this. She had called him up, and in a serious tone, asked to meet. Why? Because she wanted to talk.

Things did not look good. He did not even want to think about what she wanted to talk about. To his knowledge, when women say that they want to talk, it hardly ever means a good thing. If anything, it usually means pain and misery for the person that they wanted to talk to.

"Ugh..." Ichigo pressed the palm of his hand against his forehead.

_Women... who gets them?_

Ahh, sweet obliviousness. If only Ichigo knew that he was actually dealing with a man.

As the sight of a pale, raven-haired woman clothed in a dark green dress sitting on a bench neared, Ichigo tightened his fists at his sides, still keeping the same pace. No. He should not be feeling this way. He was a _guy_ for God's sake. A Shinigami too, at that - he should not be shaking in the knees! Not only that, but he had practically shown Kiorra his _soul_ and what did he get in return? A blank look that clearly said, "This is not worth my time" and that she did not "care". _Well, Kiorra, you may not care, but I sure as hell care_. He had been agonizing over showing that side of himself to her, and all he got was _that_? What the fuck?

Ichigo was ready to give her a piece of his mind when she got up from the bench that she was sitting on and lifted her large eyes to gaze at him. His voice, which was ready to hurl bitter words at her, died in his throat. When he noticed that the air that surrounded them was stretched taut with anxiety and a feeling of foreboding, his steps died as well, and he stopped in front of Kiorra, a mere few steps away from her.

"Ichigo." Her voice was soft, but she might as well have been speaking loudly, because he had heard every syllable of his name that she uttered. Her eyes and her face, both held a look of such melancholy that his earlier anger died as well, replaced with genuine worry.

"Kiorra? What's wrong?"

She did not say anything, which only made him worry even more.

"Kiorra...?"

She took several steps towards him, her green dress billowing behind her as it was a slightly windy day, and stopped when she was directly in front of him. Kiorra then took his hands into her own, and clasped them for a few seconds. When she opened his hands, he saw a ribbon lying in the middle of his palm.

"I'm sorry," Kiorra said.

Ichigo stared at the ribbon wordlessly. It was something that he had gotten for her during one of their dates a few weeks back. It had been rather breezy during their date that Kiorra's hair got quite messy, and Ichigo, being the thoughtful young man he was, had bought a nice, green ribbon to tie up her raven hair. It was the first thing that he had bought for her. Ichigo looked up at her questioningly, and what he saw took him aback, making his voice die in his throat once more. Pearl-like tears had gathered at the corners of Kiorra's eyes.

When she spoke, her words dropped on him like a pile of rocks;

"I cannot see you anymore. This is goodbye, Ichigo Kurosaki."

* * *

_Tap, tap, tap._

The sound of the keys of the cell phone being pressed repeatedly.

_Tap, tap, tap._

Alright.

_Tap, tap, tap._

He was going to bite.

"What are you doing?" Ichimaru Gin finally questioned Aizen, who had been fiddling with the cell phone in his hands exasperatedly for the past few minutes.

"I am trying to contact Ulquiorra," Aizen responded, his eyes glued to the screen of the device, not even bothering to look up. "But he has not been answering any of my calls, or my text messages. Do you think he's ignoring me? Or maybe he has already changed and-"

Fed up, Ichimaru snatched the cell phone from Aizen's hands and threw it out the window.

* * *

Ichigo sank onto the bench that Kiorra had previously sat on, totally and utterly speechless. Many people walked past him, and even when the sun had set and night was calling to take over, the orange-haired teen did not move an inch, only staring at the item in his hands.

* * *

Thankfully, it did not take much to make Kurosaki believe his tears - yes, he had faked them - nor did it take him long to pry himself away from the boy. The boy was so shocked to see _Kiorra Cifer_ crying, that all other thought flew out of his mind. Ulquiorra had to admit, he did feel a bit guilty upon seeing the boy's broken expression, but he reminded himself that it was all necessary. It was all part of the mission, he could not do anything else about it. And this was much better than leaving Kurosaki hanging - he was doing Kurosaki a favour. At least, that was what he told himself. He supposed that after spending so much time with the boy, he had become slightly attached to him, but not in the same way Ichigo felt for him.

After leaving Ichigo at the park, Ulquiorra wandered around for a bit until it was well late into the night before he finally gave in to what the situation demanded and walked into the hotel that he stayed at. Upon entering it, Ulquiorra felt disapproving gazes follow him. His hair was windswept and a bit of his make-up ran – damn, he should have bought waterproof make-up - because of the tears that he had to spill for Kurosaki.

Tugging at his hair slightly in hopes of getting rid of the headache that had begun to drum in his temple, Ulquiorra came to a stop when he reached his destination. He stood in front of the door of their hotel room for a long time just staring at it silently, his heart beating hard against his chest.

_Come on, this is just Grimmjow. What are you so afraid of, Ulquiorra?_

Ulquiorra ran his fingers through his hair in hopes of tidying it. As for his make-up, there was no helping it right now, and he could not be bothered to go to the hotel toilets, which were at the ground floor, near the lobby. Taking deep, calming breaths, Ulquiorra stilled his fast beating heart, reached out, and opened the door.

_Here goes nothing..._

The moment he stepped in and closed the door behind him, he saw his blue-haired comrade, who, alerted by the soft click of the door being closed, immediately looked up. Quietly, Grimmjow put the magazine that he had been trying to read aside, his gaze fixed on Ulquiorra. Sapphire eyes took him in, studying him, as though trying to make sure that it really was Kiorra that they were looking at. He did not look angry, like Ulquiorra had initially expected.

All it took for Grimmjow to make Ulquiorra's heart beat as quickly as before was just one word.

"Hey."

* * *

**DIOR:** 11th chapter! Finally! After being sick on and off since New Year, I'm back to my normal self - and I hope it stays that way for awhile. Being stuck in bed during the holidays is depressing. Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter! Reviews are loved as always.


	12. Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez

**This chapter is dedicated to**

_c. cristina, for her undying support and patience – because I'm that annoying whenever I start nitpicking the stuff I write,_

_and_

_CrimsonRedRose, the annoying voice in my head that constantly tells me to update this fic ;)_

* * *

"Sousuke..." Ichimaru said after the Arrancar swept out of the Meeting Room. "Sousuke."

"..."

He poked Aizen in the shoulder.

"Oi."

But still Aizen sat, as still as a statue, his eyes staring unseeingly at the now closed doors.

Ichimaru stood in front of Aizen, then waved a hand in front of his face.

"Oi, snap out of it, Sousuke."

Still nothing.

Ichimaru sighed. _Wonderful, just wonderful_. He knew that Aizen was going to be upset, but he still did not expect _this - _a braindead Aizen. It looked like Aizen was going to be like this, like a damned statue, for awhile. He poked Aizen in the shoulder again. Hard. He poked him a couple more times. Harder. Still no response. Yeap. Aizen was definitely going to be like this for awhile. Now all Gin had to do was to wait for the inevitable fireworks that would come the moment Aizen comes to his senses.

And he knew that it was not going to be pretty.

* * *

When Grimmjow came to, the first thing he noticed was that his head was throbbing and hurting like a bitch. The back of his head felt like it had met with something particularly hard in a brutal fashion meant to either injure or knock him out. He reached up to touch the back of his head, where a bump had formed, as he sat up, and winced ever so slightly - it throbbed, sending more waves of pain through him. It felt sore and tender. From this alone, he could tell that whoever did this to him was very strong. It was not easy to injure an Espada. But other than that, he was pretty much unharmed – he did not ache anywhere else.

The second thing he noticed was that he was on a bed, a blanket pulled right up to his chest – he found this odd because he did not remember ever sleeping on it, and the way his head throbbed told him that he did not get here on his own. The state of the room he was in, the bedroom of the hotel room, did not suggest that there had been any struggle earlier, unless the mess had been cleared of. The dressing table was right where it was supposed to be, so was the lamp, chair, and pretty much everything else in the room. However, though all the furniture was in place, the room seemed strangely bare... Or maybe it was his imagination...

The third thing he noticed was the one that surprised him most of all. Following the sound of the door creaking open, he heard a voice, a voice that he recognized well without having to see the face of its owner to know who it was that spoke. It was a deep voice. A very much male voice. A voice that always made him sit up straighter, made his heart skip a beat. But it couldn't be...

"So you're finally awake, Sexta," said the voice.

Grimmjow immediately turned his head in the direction of the voice.

What, or rather,_ who_ he saw made his eyes widen and his jaw drop.

"_Ulquiorra_?" he said, every bit of his voice laced and injected with disbelief.

Indeed, just a few feet away from him, stood Ulquiorra Cifer, the cousin of Kiorra Cifer. The Cuatro remained silent, not answering him, watching Grimmjow closely from where he stood at the doorway. Grimmjow could not possibly be dreaming again now, could he? But Ulquiorra looked so solid, so real, that he could not possibly...

Grimmjow struggled to sit up more. "Wh-when did you get here?"

He was about to make to get out of bed when Ulquiorra shot him down with just one cold stare.

If this was a dream, then it was a really good one because "Ulquiorra" was acting just like the real thing.

Ulquiorra was looking down at him, that usual, infuriating, ever stoic expression on his face, hands safely tucked in the confines of his pockets. He looked just like Grimmjow remembered him – clad in his uniform, his doll-like face framed by slightly messy raven hair, his skin porcelain, his black and white lips unsmiling, and wearing a look in his emerald eyes that clearly said he found that just being in Grimmjow's presence was a waste of time. It was almost like they were back in Las Noches. Almost. How long had it been since Grimmjow last saw him? It felt like _ages_.

So long that Grimmjow pinched himself to make sure that he was not dreaming – "Ow!". Once Grimmjow had established that he was not dreaming, the Sexta's eyes slowly slid from Ulquiorra's face to his chest to make sure it really was Ulquiorra, and not Kiorra standing in the doorway.

Grimmjow blinked.

Nope, no tits staring back at him.

"Did you not hear what I'd just said, Sexta?" Annoyance crept up, barely detectable unless one knew Ulquiorra well, in Ulquiorra's voice. It seemed that Ulquiorra had been speaking while Grimmjow was studying him. Oops. Sapphire eyes snapped up just in time to see Ulquiorra move away from the doorway. Ulquiorra advanced on him, withdrew his right hand from his pocket, keeping the left one in its confines, and reached out for Grimmjow's collar. He gripped the collar, curling his fingers into it, and pulled Grimmjow up a bit. And if the pain Grimmjow had experienced from pinching himself was not enough to convince him that he was not dreaming, Ulquiorra's reiatsu pressing down upon him, though gently, was. _That_ definitely felt real. Seeing that Grimmjow was at a loss for words, Ulquiorra said, "Pack your things. It's time to leave."

_That_ helped Grimmjow to snap right out of it.

"Oi!" He reached up and gripped Ulquiorra's wrist. "Hold up a sec!"

"Just do what you're tol-"

"Where the hell have you been?" Grimmjow wanted to know. "Last time I saw you was at Szayel's lab!"

But Ulquiorra ignored him. "Do what you're told to do, Jaegerjaquez."

"Don't give me that bullshit," Grimmjow hissed.

"Pack your things."

"You just fucking up and left! Didn't even tell anyone where the hell you were!"

"Do what you're tol-"

"Just what was so important that you had to leave so quickly, right out of the blue?"

"Sexta."

"You could have at least told _someone_. Anyone!"

"_Sexta_."

"So what the hell was it, Ulquiorra? Where were you?"

Ulquiorra fixed Grimmjow with yet another cold stare, not that this made Grimmjow back down.

"That," Ulquiorra said icily. "Is none of your concern."

"Don't give me-"

"Do not think, Jaegerjaquez," Ulquiorra said, his voice still icy. "That just because I do not cause you harm like I do to Yammy, we are friends."

Grimmjow's grip on Ulquiorra's wrist tightened ever so slightly. He felt like there was a lump in his throat.

What the hell was this...?

"_Do as you're told_. This is an order. Pack up."

Grimmjow cut him off.

"Pack up? What are you talking about? Kiorra and I aren't done yet!" Grimmjow's voice rose, quivering slightly. He was getting fed up with Ulquiorra's treatment. "You can't just come in here and order me around!" To which Ulquiorra responded that yes, he very well could, but Grimmjow heard none of it and kept going with his tirade. "When the _hell_ did you get here? Where the fuck were you? You were gone for- I don't know- And what the heck were you doing?" Grimmjow gestured at the bed he was sitting on. "Were you the one that put me here?" He then pointed to the back of his head, where the bump was. "And were you the one that did this?" he demanded to know. "What the hell happened? Talk, dammit!" Grimmjow gazed into Ulquiorra's eyes for an answer, but found none. All he saw was an endless tunnel of green. "Don't just ignore me like you always do!" Emerald eyes stared back at him, not even a flicker of emotion in them. "It pisses me off!"

It seemed that there was no end to Grimmjow's questions. Ulquiorra actually blinked once, twice, as he took the barrage of questions in, till finally, when Grimmjow started to repeat himself over and over, Ulquiorra held up a hand, telling him to stop, which, thankfully, Grimmjow did, albeit he glowered at Ulquiorra when he did so.

"I've just arrived so I have no idea what you're talking about. As for the questions concerning my absence, there is no need for you to know – it is none of your business," Ulquiorra said calmly. "And I'm telling you to pack up because your mission is now complete. It's time to return to Las Noches – Aizen-sama has sent me here to accompany you back."

Grimmjow stared, his anger forgotten for a moment.

"... Complete?"

Ulquiorra nodded.

"W-wait... What are you talking about? Kiorra didn't say anything about that!"

"Accept it. Kiorra has completed the mission. Pack up."

Grimmjow fell silent. Complete...? So this stupid mission was actually over?

Then, something hit him.

"Where's Kiorra?" Grimmjow said out loud.

Ulquiorra fixed Grimmjow with a steady gaze before answering, "Kiorra has... finished what she had set out to do, and has thus, left." Was it just Grimmjow, or did he hear hesitation in Ulquiorra's voice? And that Ulquiorra had averted his gaze for just a moment while speaking? "I trust that you have no other questions?" Ulquiorra said. Before Grimmjow could even answer that question, Ulquiorra let go of him, letting Grimmjow's back hit the pillows, then turned his back on him, intending to leave. "Then pack up. I will be waiting for you outside. Do not waste any time." He stepped out and would have closed the door then if he had not remembered something.

A slight pause before Ulquiorra broke the silence;

"And I'd appreciate it if you don't stare at my chest, Sexta."

He closed the door, leaving Grimmjow bewildered, confused, and alone.

* * *

Sure enough, Kiorra was nowhere to be found.

After Ulquiorra had walked out, Grimmjow had searched for Kiorra all over the hotel room, and found that indeed, Kiorra was gone. There was no sign of her at all. Even her luggage was gone. Her make-up, accessories, clothes, books, everything that belonged to the substitute Cuatro Espada was gone. And no matter how many times Grimmjow questioned him, Ulquiorra refused to answer, leaving Grimmjow to gather his things and pack in frustration – well, since this was Grimmjow, it was more like he had tossed his things into the luggage then smacked it close in a temper. But he calmed down after awhile when he told himself that Kiorra was probably at Las Noches, with the rest of the Arrancars – that was the most likely scenario. No doubt that she was in her room right now, wherever that was, resting.

Right now in the hotel room, however, Grimmjow was staring sourly at the Garganta that Ulquiorra had just opened.

The Garganta revealed a tunnel of whirling, torrential energy. Ulquiorra was already in it.

The Cuatro Espada looked over his shoulder, his back to Grimmjow. "Well, aren't you coming?"

Grimmjow stared. Call him crazy, but from that angle, where Ulquiorra's chest was not visible, Ulquiorra looked amazingly like Kiorra. So much that Grimmjow had to blink a few times, then remind himself that this was the real Cuatro, not the substitute. Those two looked so freakishly alike that it was eerie.

"Tch..."

But come, Grimmjow did. He took one step into the tunnel, then another, and another, and another, till finally, he was walking side by side with Ulquiorra Cifer.

The walk back to Las Noches was a terribly long, and not to mention, silent one. Time seemed to creep by slowly, at a turtle-like pace. Not a single word passed Ulquiorra's lips, nor did it seem like he was intending to start up a conversation with Grimmjow. Ulquiorra kept his gaze firmly forward, not even sparing Grimmjow a glance. The entire time as they walked, Ulquiorra kept his hands in his pockets, the coattails of his jacket flapping behind him. As always, his expression did not reveal anything about what he was feeling.

Now, don't get Grimmjow wrong. When he first saw Ulquiorra at the doorway, his heart had skipped a beat, just like it always did whenever he laid eyes upon the slender, raven-haired Arrancar. But right now, Grimmjow could hardly describe what he was feeling as happiness. Far from that. As what was usual for days of late, he was experiencing a mix of everything, his feelings a mass of confusion. Just what... He could not understand any of this. He knew that Ulquiorra did not like him that much, but still, they _did_ have their moments. He could not understand just why Ulquiorra was so cold to him right now.

Grimmjow clenched his fist, his luggage trailing behind him as he pulled it along. First, Kiorra was upset with him, and now, for some reason, Ulquiorra. Nothing ever seems to go right, now, does it? At least he knew what was up with Kiorra. But Ulquiorra, Grimmjow did not have a fucking clue. He felt like he was being mindfucked by the Cifers. It certainly did not help that Ulquiorra was acting like a damned wall right now – the man simply refused to say more than orders to him. It frustrated Grimmjow to no end.

And then there was the bump at the back of his head. He _still_ had no idea how he had gotten it. Maybe Kiorra knew, since she was the last person that he was with.

He stole a glance at Ulquiorra.

Ulquiorra's gaze was still fixed ahead. He was still ignoring Grimmjow. This made Grimmjow's heart clench.

And it stayed that way, Ulquiorra ignoring Grimmjow, even when they reached Las Noches. When Grimmjow's feet met the surface of the floor of Las Noches, he actually had to blink a few times. He had forgotten how overwhelmingly white the entire place was. Standing here side by side with Ulquiorra felt strangely nostalgic.

"Heh. Home sweet home, eh?" Grimmjow said, hoping to be able to break the ice. As expected, he did not receive an answer.

He turned to look at Ulquiorra, just to see his expression, when Grimmjow stopped, stunned.

At the spot where just a few seconds ago stood Ulquiorra Cifer, was no one.

Ulquiorra had left without telling him.

* * *

Aizen Sousuke was inconsolable. Even now, Aizen's eyes were still red, the only evidence that showed that he had been crying before this. Not that he would admit to this, of course. When asked, Aizen would answer that he had gotten some dust in his eyes, but really, who was he kidding? Even his nose was a bit red.

And the reason for Aizen's tears?

Ulquiorra, of course.

The man was so devastated to learn about Ulquiorra's change, that the moment Ulquiorra had left to pick Grimmjow up, tears immediately gathered in Aizen's eyes. Gin could barely restrain himself from rolling his eyes at the time, and now, with Ulquiorra Cifer in front of them once more, it was no different. Though Aizen acted calm, the way his hand shook ever so slightly when he reached out to take his cup of tea, told Gin that Aizen was still pretty upset about Ulquiorra changing back, or in Aizen's words "losing his lovely set of breasts".

And Gin could tell that Aizen was barely listening to a single word that Ulquiorra was saying. All Aizen said while Ulquiorra gave them his full report of his mission were the occasional "Hmm" and "is that so?" while staring at Ulquiorra's chest wistfully. Well, that was wonderful. With the way Aizen was now, it looked like Gin would have to take note of Ulquiorra's report_ for_ him.

"Aizen-sama?" Ulquiorra said, when he noticed Aizen was staring off into space yet again.

"Hmm? Is that so?" Aizen said, still staring longingly.

Ulquiorra stared at Aizen in confusion. He shot a questioning look at Gin.

Gin rolled his eyes. _Oh, boy_... He patted Aizen on the shoulder, and grinned at Ulquiorra. "That's enough, Ulqui-chan. Ya did a great job. Ya can go and get some rest now. Aizen-sama will call ya again if he needs ya."

Ulquiorra nodded. "Very well." He bowed. "Thank you for your time, Aizen-sama, Ichimaru-sama. I will take my leave." He straightened up, and would have well walked out of the door if Aizen did not give a sudden jerk.

"Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra stopped in his steps. "Yes, Aizen-sama?"

"Do you think," Aizen said, hope evident in his voice. This, however, went unnoticed by Ulquiorra. "That there is any chance that you will take those pills of Szayel's again?"

A shudder went through the Cuatro's body at the mention of those pills. Ulquiorra shook his head. "No, Aizen-sama."

And just like that, Aizen's dreams were crushed.

"Oh," he said faintly. "Very well, then. You may leave, Ulquiorra."

If possible, the depressed aura surrounding Aizen grew even heavier after Ulquiorra bowed out of the room.

"I think... I think that I need to be alone for awhile, Gin..." Aizen said weakly.

"Aye, aye..."

* * *

In his room, Grimmjow was not only confused and upset about Ulquiorra, but he was also worried. After Ulquiorra had left him alone in the hallway, Grimmjow had promptly gone to his own bedroom to dump his luggage on the bed. With that done, he had started to wander around Las Noches with the intention of looking for Kiorra. But no matter where he looked, he could not find her. She was not in any of the training rooms, not in the Meeting Room, not in the kitchen... None of the Arrancars that he had come across knew where she was, either. In fact, they had not seen her at all.

It was almost like she had disappeared into thin air.

_Where the hell did she go?_

* * *

**DIOR:** A very short chapter. Sort of like a teaser xD I just returned from another trip to Sabah a few days ago so I was busy. University is going to start again in ten days. *depresses* I'm definitely not looking forward to it since it's supposed to be the most hectic semester of all OTL. Reviews are appreciated.


	13. Ulquiorra Cifer

_The way Grimmjow had greeted him, without any sign of anger, had taken him aback. The yells, the shouts, the argument... None of them came. Instead, what he had received was what seemed to be Grimmjow's attempt at friendship. The man had even taken the time to actually_ talk_ to Ulquiorra. He had asked Ulquiorra about his day, about how the mission was going (without even insulting him about his method of getting close to Kurosaki), about the things he liked... whatever that came to mind, really. For the first time in a long time, Ulquiorra actually had had a pleasant conversation with Grimmjow, a conversation that did not, for once, have a single insult in it. __To top it all off, did he just hear Grimmjow mutter something that sounded suspiciously like a "I'm sorry" to him?_

_Unbelievable. Ulquiorra could hardly believe the way things were turning out. It was far from what he had expected and close to what he wanted._

_Friendship._

_That would be nice. _

_For starters._

_"Anyway, hey, Kiorra, I've got something for ya..."_

_But even with this knowledge in mind, Ulquiorra quickly grabbed a frying pan from the kitchen as soon as Grimmjow turned around to grab what looked like a small box from the table. He was going to turn back into his normal form any moment now, and he most certainly did not want Grimmjow to be around to see it when it happens, friend or not. He bit his lower lip, taking careful aim and-_

_He swung the pan. It hit the Sexta at the back of the head, effectively knocking the man out._

_Grimmjow dropped to the floor like a rock._

_That ought to keep Grimmjow unconscious for a few hours._

_"I'm sorry, Grimmjow."_

_Frying pan versus Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez._

_Frying pan= 1; Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez= 0._

* * *

About a week had passed since he last spoke to Grimmjow, since he had returned to his original form, since he had returned to his normal routine before the change. With the way he carried on with his life, one would never have suspected that just a week before, he was going through the ordeal of having to deal with his change of gender... amongst other things. If one knew about what he had gone through, one would have thought that he would have been a little more affected, instead of just calm, stoic. The way he acted made one question whether he even remembered the past events.

But of course, appearances were deceiving.

Ulquiorra Cifer still remembered what had happened, there was no way the memories would ever leave his mind. They were much too vivid. Too... (in the case of the things he had to do as a woman) traumatizing. And to be honest, who would forget about losing their friend; that was simply something one would not forget (thankfully, Ulqui-chan was now back to where he belonged).

Though he avoided the Sexta like the plague and if he were to encounter him, Ulquiorra would ignore him, there was not a day that passed where he did not think about Grimmjow.

"Pretty little bauble you've got there," Szayel said, eyeing the necklace – a silver chain with a simple ring dangling on it - on Ulquiorra's neck.

Ulquiorra reached up to touch it lightly.

"I know," Ulquiorra said softly. "Thank you."

And he intended to keep it that way.

* * *

_Grimmjow had said that he had something for Kiorra... for him, didn't he?_

_After placing Grimmjow on the bed, Ulquiorra sat himself down on the couch. Slowly, he opened the box that Grimmjow had meant to give to him. What he saw inside made him pause._

_Inside the box was a silver chain with a simple ring on it._

* * *

After being deprived of the sight of Ulquiorra's breasts, and having watched the images of everything Ulquiorra had seen and experienced throughout his entire stay at the Real World, Aizen Sousuke had become fixated on something else. When Ulquiorra had shown him his memories of his mission, Aizen, who was too depressed to pay attention to any of it, immediately sat up when Ulquiorra's memories came to where he had gone to the beach for the very first time with Kurosaki. Eyes wide, Aizen had made Ulquiorra freeze the image, then stared.

Perhaps there was hope after all.

Her... Her breasts were not as perfect as Ulquiorra's were but...

Gin, who was, at the time, curious as to why Aizen had made Ulquiorra pause the flow of memories, only had to take one look at Aizen's face – as usual – in order to understand just what was going on.

"Oh, Sousuke..." Gin had groaned.

He must have her.

Which was exactly why he made Grimmjow and Ulquiorra come to the Meeting Room to see him.

Grimmjow was, as expected, in a less than happy mood. He did not even know why he was here ten minutes earlier than he should have been, but there you have it. So he stood there, feeling very much like an idiot, and waited for Ulquiorra to arrive. The Cuatro was not one to arrive too early or too late; he was always on time. Just the thought of meeting Ulquiorra made Grimmjow's scowl deepen. Sure enough, when ten minutes of scowling, of avoiding Aizen's gaze and ignoring Gin's lame jokes had passed, the doors to the Meeting Room finally opened to reveal the slender fourth Espada, his expression as impassive as ever.

Fucking finally.

Ulquiorra Cifer swept into the room smoothly and swiftly without even sparing Grimmjow a glance, his gaze fully concentrated on his Lord. The act only served to make Grimmjow's eye twitch.

"Ulquiorra," Aizen intoned. "It's good to see you again."

Ulquiorra lowered his gaze as he bowed before him. "It's good to see you as well, Aizen-sama."

Ignoring the glare that Grimmjow was currently directing at his cheek, Ulquiorra pulled out a chair and sat down, ready to hear what Aizen had to say to them. To be honest, he was surprised that Grimmjow did not offer a biting remark upon his appearance, choosing instead to be quiet. Based on the way Grimmjow had been acting toward him lately, Ulquiorra found this rather odd. Perhaps the Sexta was in a better mood today.

"Well, now that we're all here," Aizen began. "I'm sure that the two of you know why I've summoned you?"

"You have a mission for us to complete, Aizen-sama?" Ulquiorra offered, ignoring Grimmjow's glare.

"Correct."

Even though his gaze was on his Lord, and not on the Sexta, Ulquiorra could tell that Grimmjow was having an extremely hard time refraining himself from rolling his eyes. Ulquiorra would bet anything that Grimmjow's thoughts right at this moment were along the lines of; "Of course he called us here for a fucking mission. Anyone could have guessed that. What else could the bastard have wanted?"

Grimmjow's gaze did not remain on Ulquiorra's cheek, though. After awhile, his gaze slid from Ulquiorra's cheek to the Cuatro's chest.

Ulquiorra could not help but to feel self-conscious at that. Was Grimmjow mentally comparing him to Kiorra again? He had practically lost count of the number of times he had caught Grimmjow staring at his chest this week.

He tried not to think about the fact that he really did not look that much different from Kiorra.

But of course, him being Ulquiorra, he kept his face as impassive as ever.

"Ulquiorra," Aizen said. "Show us the image of your day out at the beach with the Ryoka and his friends."

Ulquiorra bowed his head. "Of course, Aizen-sama." Without a single moment of hesitation, Ulquiorra reached up and extracted his eyeball from its socket. Used to seeing this action being performed, Aizen and Gin simply watched as Ulquiorra crushed his eyeball.

The image of the day out filled the mind of every person in the room. In that image, the faces of Grimmjow, Kurosaki and Kurosaki's friends could be clearly seen.

"This is your mission," Aizen said. "I want you and Grimmjow to return to the Real World and capture this girl, ah..." He trailed off, unsure of the girl's name.

There was a pause before Ulquiorra decided to speak.

"Rukia Kuchiki?" Ulquiorra offered once more. Though he could not understand why his Lord would want any of Kurosaki's female friends, if any girl would be of any use to them, he would have to say that it would be Rukia. If his Lord wanted to use her as some sort of bait, she would be ideal since she seemed especially close to Kurosaki.

If sleeping in a person's closet did not count as being close, then Ulquiorra did not know what did.

"No, no." The shinigami shook his head. "The one with the orange hair, the-"

It was at that moment that Ichimaru Gin decided to cut Aizen short.

"The one with the huge boobs," Gin finished dryly.

* * *

... Aizen wanted them to capture Inoue Orihime. Keep her captive. That was all. No using her as bait to tempt Kurosaki into a fight, no nothing.

No matter how many times Ulquiorra turned this order over in his mind, he could not, for the life of him, understand why his Lord would want that girl. Capturing an enemy for no reason was, no matter how he looked at it, pointless, a complete waste of time. The Aizen Sousuke that he knew was most certainly not a time-waster. As far as he could tell, there was nothing especially extraordinary about that girl aside from her disgusting cooking, her odd personality, her apparent love for Ichigo Kurosaki...

And those extremely large things attached to her chest.

None of these things could possibly be the reason why Aizen would want to capture a human girl and keep her. They were not useful in the least.

Ulquiorra really could not understand his Lord sometimes.

One look at Grimmjow told him that the Sexta could not either.

* * *

Once the meeting had ended and his eyeball had regenerated, Ulquiorra rose from his seat, bowed before Aizen, bade his superiors farewell and left. Not once did he look Grimmjow's way as he did so, but he could feel the Sexta follow him – the feel of Grimmjow's reiatsu was enough to tell him this. He ignored this, though, and continued walking.

Ulquiorra mulled over the instructions that Aizen had given them. He and Grimmjow had been instructed to capture the human girl, unharmed, and they had to leave Las Noches by tomorrow morning. It sounded simple enough. The both of them knew where the girl lived. The only problem was to get her alone. It would not do to capture her in the presence of her friends; most of all, Kurosaki, who was capable of fighting back and finding a way of tracking her down. Though Ulquiorra was certain that he would be able to dispose of Kurosaki should a battle occur, Aizen wanted this mission to be carried out without incident.

Hmm...

If he was not mistaken, that woman should be at-

"Oi, Ulquiorra!"

... In response to Grimmjow's call, Ulquiorra continued to walk. He paid no heed to Grimmjow.

Not one to be ignored, Grimmjow reached out and grabbed Ulquiorra's wrist, growling. He yanked on the pale wrist, making the owner turn around to face him. Fiery blue eyes were met with emotionless green ones. The stoic expression on Ulquiorra's face only made Grimmjow tighten his hold on Ulquiorra's wrist even more.

"Listen to me when I'm talking to you," he growled.

It took a moment for Ulquiorra to respond.

"I was listening," Ulquiorra replied coolly. "I just saw no reason to answer you."

The scowl on Grimmjow's face deepened.

"Don't play with me." Grimmjow released his hold on Ulquiorra's wrist and reached for the Cuatro's jacket instead. He curled his fingers into the front of the jacket. He did not even need to think twice before he yanked Ulquiorra up, even closer, so close that they were nearly nose to nose. Still, he was met with that stoic expression. That expression that had been pissing him off for the past week. Green eyes studied him silently, uncaringly. Not a single muscle in Cifer's face twitched; the man was _that _calm. "You think I didn't notice?"

"Notice what, Sexta? That you're a complete nuisance? Because I've noticed that detail a long time ago. It's not very difficult to notice when it's blatantly obvious." Ulquiorra reached up and gripped Grimmjow's wrist. "Now, unhand me at once. You'll wrinkle my jacket."

"Too fucking late."

Undeterred, Ulquiorra repeated his order. "Listen to what I say and unhand me."

Instead of retorting to Ulquiorra's order, Grimmjow narrowed his eyes, and with his free hand, reached out for Ulquiorra's throat. Ulquiorra's face remained impassive when Grimmjow did so. That is, until he realized what Grimmjow was up to. When he did, a flash of what looked like fear appeared in his eyes for a brief moment. Grimmjow had a hold on the cool metal zipper of his jacket. Grimmjow tugged on it, threatening to pull it down.

"You think I wouldn't notice?"

Quickly, before Ulquiorra could even stop him, Grimmjow pulled the zipper down, far enough to reveal Ulquiorra's Hollow hole.

And the necklace.

* * *

The meeting had ended but Aizen had yet to move from his seat. The man appeared to be daydreaming, a silly smile on his face. Seeing this only made Ichimaru shake his head. How this man was exceedingly powerful, more powerful than almost everyone else, he did not know. If he was able to see Aizen's thoughts, he was pretty sure that he would see breasts float above that man's head right now. Ichimaru yawned, then placed his chin on the palm of his hand.

"You really are a piece of work, Sousuke."

Imagine, ordering Grimmjow and Ulquiorra to go on a mission just so that he could have a new large pair of breasts to stare at. The level of Aizen's obsession with large breasts never ceased to astound Ichimaru.

"Mmhmm."

If possible, the smile on Aizen's face widened.

Ichimaru could only conclude that Aizen was thinking about even bigger breasts.

* * *

"The hell are you doing with this?" Grimmjow demanded. "You think I wouldn't notice you walking around with this thing hanging around your neck?" He tightened his grip on the jacket. "I saw you playing around with it yesterday, before you stuffed it back into your jacket."

Ulquiorra had lived for many years, and though he was of higher rank, this was one of the few times where he felt fear. He was barely able to keep his calm together when Grimmjow had unzipped his jacket.

His fingernails digging into Grimmjow's wrist. His breath caught in his throat. His eyes widening a fraction. A flash of emotion in his eyes. These were the only indications that showed that Ulquiorra was dreading for what was to come, and he knew that it would; the determination in Grimmjow's eyes told Ulquiorra that he was going to keep pushing on.

Grimmjow took a hold of the necklace and dangled it in front of Ulquiorra's face.

The ring attached to it glimmered softly under the light.

"This was supposed to be for Kiorra. What the hell are you doing with it?"

"I..." Ulquiorra was speechless. He did not know what to say.

He could have kicked himself. How could he have been so careless? He swallowed, trying to think of a way to answer Grimmjow without giving himself away. This was not an easy task since he himself had just about nearly ruined his cover all on his own. No matter how many times he wracked his brains, he could not come up with a reasonable explanation for his possession of the necklace; and the only reason he did have was pathetic.

He just hoped that Grimmjow would not, did not, think that he and Kiorra were one and the same.

"Oi. Answer me."

Tsk...

"Ulquiorra."

Ulquiorra kept silent.

"Ulquiorra."

He still could not come up with another reason.

"Oi."

And he could not just stay silent, else Grimmjow would suspect something.

"Damn it, don't ignore me!"

Though tiny, there was a part of him that told him that he should just tell the truth.

"If you don't tell me, I'm going to fucking-"

To just tell Grimmjow that he and Kiorra were one and the same, and-

Ulquiorra fought that tiny part down, and shoved it to the back of his mind.

"I got it from Kiorra."

A moment of silence.

"She asked me to keep it for her for awhile."

Grimmjow's eyes widened... The expression on his face softened... But his expression hardened again when he furrowed his eyebrows... making the scowl return to his face... and he growled;

"... You expect me to believe that bullshit of a story?" Grimmjow hissed. "Even if she did, why the heck are you wearing it? That's the shittiest excuse I've ever heard, Cifer."

Ulquiorra averted his gaze. He did not answer.

He nearly jumped, though, when Grimmjow's fist landed on the wall, right next to Ulquiorra's head, creating a crack in it. His gaze immediate snapped right back onto Grimmjow's face, who was currently rubbing his temple.

"Tch..." Frustration was laced in that single sound. "You know, Ulquiorra." Grimmjow raised his eyes so that their gazes met. "I'm fed up of this shit, so I'm gonna ask you straight. What the hell is up with you?"

...

"That," Ulquiorra said icily. "_Sexta_, is none of your business."

"What?"

"You heard me." Though he knew that this would anger Grimmjow, Ulquiorra repeated what he had said, maintaining the icy tone in his voice as he emphasized on each word that came out of his mouth, "It is none of your business."

The scowl on Grimmjow's face became more pronounced.

* * *

Szayel was wandering around the hallway when he saw it; Grimmjow with his fist in Ulquiorra's jacket, looking anything but happy, and Ulquiorra, staying silent as the Sexta yelled at him. The wall behind Ulquiorra, he noticed, had a crack in it.

_Oh... What is this?_

Szayel hid behind the wall, right at the corner, leaning out just enough so that he could watch the event before him unravel without getting caught by his superiors. Well, this was a sight to see. While it was normal for everyone to see Grimmjow yell at Ulquiorra for some reason or another, it was a different thing altogether to see Ulquiorra look somewhat... uncomfortable, for the lack of a better word. Though he was staring at Grimmjow icily, the way Ulquiorra was behaving said that he wanted to be anywhere else but here.

"Answer me, Ulquiorra!"

Grimmjow's voice was getting more demanding.

What could have possibly riled the Sexta up this time?

Amber eyes slowly slid down from Ulquiorra's face, to the necklace around the Cuatro's neck. The necklace that Grimmjow was currently holding up in front of his face.

_... Ah._

That certainly explained things. While Ulquiorra may not have divulged everything that had happened between him and Grimmjow during their stay at the Real World, it did not take a genius (which was exactly what Szayel Aporro Granz was, ahem ahem) to conclude that Ulquiorra had received that necklace as a gift from Grimmjow, when Ulquiorra was still Kiorra.

As seconds wore on, Grimmjow grew increasingly frustrated, his voice getting more demanding. Szayel would not be surprised if all of the residents of Las Noches were to hear Grimmjow's yells if Ulquiorra continued to be so unresponsive. Ulquiorra had not answered a single one of Grimmjow's questions, and he did not look like he was going to either. What a stubborn fool.

Now, Szayel was not cruel (What? He really wasn't- okay, maybe he was. A bit. Just a tiny bit) but this was rather entertaining; he most certainly had no intention of stopping this. After all, Ulquiorra had to admit to Grimmjow about what had happened to him sooner or later. If not now, when else?

However, when Grimmjow showed no sign of calming down and Ulquiorra did not show any sign of giving in, Szayel decided that enough was enough. Entertaining as this was, it would not do to have part of Las Noches destroyed. He knew that he did not want to take part in rebuilding the place again, like when Nnoitra and Nelliel had decided to engage in a battle in one of the many hallways here many years ago.

Gracefully, Szayel swept down the hallway and snatched Ulquiorra from Grimmjow's grasp.

"Sorry, Jaegerjaquez," Szayel said smoothly. He winked at a surprised Grimmjow's face. "I need to borrow him for awhile. Urgent business with Aizen-sama. You can have him again later." He gave a little wave. "Tata."

Though Grimmjow's aura immediately took on a murderous air, Szayel dragged Ulquiorra away from him.

* * *

Truth cannot be hidden forever.

Even though Ulquiorra did not want to admit it, he knew that the truth was coming to surface.

Slowly, but surely, no matter how much he tried to tighten his hold on it, it was slipping out of his grasp.

* * *

**DIOR:** I'm sorry for the false alarm yesterday! I was practically asleep when I uploaded the chapter (even though I was not supposed to, since I was not done with editing it and all). It was only when I woke up a bit half an hour later that I realized what I'd done. I hope the ones who read the draft weren't too scarred by the horrible mistakes in it *sweatdrop* I can't tell you how extremely different this chapter is from the unedited version. On another note, I can't believe that this story is coming to an end (no, actually, I can't believe that it took me this long to get here. Gosh. Two years?). I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Reviews are appreciated.


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